Darkness Returns
by Gueniveir
Summary: Basically, this happens two years after DoC. Cloud discovers that Sephiroth is back... but apparently without any memories. Jenova comes in and threatens Cloud not to fight, even though she suggests something big is coming... What is Cloud going to do? And who are all of these unknown people that are starting to come into play? (Chapter 49 - Oh, hello, Remnants...)
1. Forgotten Hatred

**A/N: Alright… This takes place about two years after Dirge of Cerberus. Yes, JENOVA comes in as an actual character with a Midna (LoZ: Twilight Princess) kind of attitude, and a voice like Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist. Sort of. Just thought I should mention that before we start… ((FUTURE EDITTTTTT: Jenova becomes very, VERY important later on, and not just a background character like she seems to be at first.)) And this is my first FanFiction, so I apologize if it's not very good. Oh, and for those of you visiting from the 20th chapter or even just starting, the beginning little peek into the end was pulled from the final chapter (which I've already mostly written at this Time, even if it isn't up at this moment), so that's why I say 'his' instead of an actual name. Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy seven and any of its characters, nor do I own most other things mentioned in this story. But using this material (and the picture) are fair use under the U.S.A Copyright Law.**

**((Oh! And I forgot to mention: This is rated T for more mild swearing every now and then, violence, suggested violence (Jenova talks about her past a lot, and there are a lot of hints about characters being tortured, in the past and present), and slight suggestive themes every now and then, although nothing bad at all (again, Jenova). Okay? And now, to the story!))**

* * *

**Darkness Returns  
**

_**Forgotten Hatred**_

_**I suppose you may wonder about what happened to our world of Gaia - yes, I include myself in that 'our' - after Deepground and everything, right? The **_**truth**_**, I mean? What really happened afterwards? I don't know if you've been told anything different, but... Well, I suppose I might as well tell you. After all, what harm can come from knowing the truth? I will warn you that this is no story; no, when I say that it's the truth, I do mean **_**the truth**_**. I don't know how your world found out about us, but now that you know, you might as well know everything. But be prepared, for much that you think you know is not exactly true. There are so many things that have happened, so many things that I do and do not regret... Well, I guess you will find out, right? So here you go: **_**the truth**_**. My name is Jenova. And this, humans, is my story.  
**_

* * *

_**Hmm... You know something? A bit of dramatic irony is always good. So before we start, how about I give you a little bit of a glimpse into the end of our story here? I must admit, this is probably my favorite part... Heh, and for those of you just starting, you can probably tell who I am from the fact that this is my favorite part...  
**_

* * *

Jenova grinned with absolute evil, a devilish glint in her eyes. "Yes, I completely agree." Then, she plunged her two swords through his back.

After a moment of shocked silence, Cloud could only gasp because of the pain he was in. Jenova had a look of such evil and insanity on her face, and Cloud was absolutely terrified for one of the first times in his life. The look in her eyes was far worse than even that one time in Nibelheim, when he had been trying to find out more about her past. Jenova calmly continued her sentence, despite the fact that her mental state wasn't even mildly close to stable at that moment. "Let's end this… once and for all. And this is the only way to do that. You don't know how long I've awaited this moment… How long I've been dreaming of this day. Of the day I could finally kill you… And this time, you won't be coming back."

* * *

_**Okay, **_**now**_** let's start. Ready? Here we go...**_

* * *

Cloud Strife sighed, looking around his friend Tifa's bar. He was wearing the same black outfit he always wore, and his blonde hair was somehow spiked, just like it always was. It had already been two, nearly three years since the incident with the society known as Deepground, and everything had only just started to get back to normal. Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene were all asleep upstairs, as it was just before midnight.

Cloud got up, pacing around. He wasn't certain why, but he had become quite agitated a few weeks back, and he hadn't gotten better. He hadn't been able to sleep comfortably, and he had been losing his temper far too easily. Everything was great, so he wasn't certain why this was happening. His first thought had been that something was wrong with the Planet, but that couldn't be the truth. Anyone who posed a threat to the Planet was gone, and Cloud doubted that they would ever be back. Besides, if any of them _had _come back – one in particular, of course – Cloud had no doubt that he would definitely know. There was no way any of his past enemies would have left him alone for the time that Cloud had felt so agitated…

Sighing, Cloud looked out one of the windows.

_Perhaps it would be best if I got some air… _Cloud thought, going over to the door and walking outside. It had been a while since he had simply taken a walk. By himself, at least.

Cloud walked through the streets of the city of Edge, which rested on the outskirts of the razed city of Midgar. It had been five years since Midgar's destruction, and nobody paid it much attention anymore.

It didn't take Cloud long to get a few blocks away from Tifa's bar. Had he truly gone so far…? He couldn't go any farther so late at night. Even with knowing that there was nobody who could harm his 'family', he still wanted to be certain. As he had learned so many times before, nothing was ever black and white. Nothing in this world was ever simple. Just when you thought you knew something, you would find out the _real _truth. Well… there were a few people who weren't all too complex, of course, but they were all gone now. Right?

Cloud started to walk back towards Tifa's bar, 7th Heaven. He heard someone else nearby, but he had assumed that he wouldn't be the only one out. Even at midnight, there were still a few people who enjoyed going outside for a walk.

Cloud saw the other person walking towards him, but he couldn't make out the person's features. Whoever it was, though, didn't seem to be in much of a rush. They were obviously taking a leisurely stroll, just like Cloud was.

Cloud looked up at the dark sky. The alley that he was in had no lamps, so the only light was a small patch of moonlight up ahead. Because of this, Cloud could see some of the constellations. He was just so glad that there was no large red meteor in the sky… no, all of that was over now, luckily. Sephiroth – the one person that was much more powerful than Cloud, yet never seemed to land a fatal blow on him – was gone now.

It had been three years since Sephiroth had been defeated once and for all. He had controlled Kadaj – a kid who had been maybe 16 and who had been created by Sephiroth using the power he possessed even in death – using JENOVA cells. JENOVA was an alien life form that had been used to create Sephiroth, sort of. Even Cloud still didn't get it; not really, at least. Sephiroth had believed that JENOVA was his mother, and had gone insane and destroyed Cloud's hometown of Nibelheim in order to retrieve her. Cloud didn't know how or why Sephiroth had suddenly lost control of himself, but that hadn't mattered. Cloud had somehow been able to defeat Sephiroth when everyone else had failed, and that had created Sephiroth's burning hatred for Cloud.

Five years after the incident at Nibelheim, Sephiroth came back. To basically sum up everything Cloud had experienced, Sephiroth had used the black Materia – a crystal sphere that could summon the ultimate dark magic – to summon Meteor. While the ultimate white magic, Holy, countered Meteor, Cloud had somehow stopped Sephiroth again and, yet again, there had been so much that hadn't made any sense. Sephiroth could have easily killed Cloud and his friends multiple times, and yet he hadn't. And then, when Sephiroth had had Cloud at his mercy, Sephiroth had paused long enough for Cloud to land a fatal strike on the one-winged angel, as Cloud had called him because of the fact that Sephiroth could have a single black wing coming from his right shoulder at times.

Then, three years ago, Kadaj had absorbed JENOVA cells and had allowed Sephiroth to take control of him. Again, another thing that didn't make all too much sense… shouldn't it have been JENOVA to take control of Kadaj, not Sephiroth? Well, whatever had happened, Sephiroth had basically toyed around with and tortured Cloud for around six minutes, before Cloud had gotten some help from his deceased friend Zack. Then, Cloud had defeated – or rather, weakened – Sephiroth, and Sephiroth had died and gone back into the Lifestream – the life of the Planet – leaving a weakened Kadaj to fade into the Lifestream as well.

Yet another thing that didn't make sense: Cloud was almost one-hundred-percent certain that he had only greatly weakened Sephiroth with his final attack. Why had Sephiroth disappeared…? And also, he shouldn't really have disappeared the way he had when going into the Lifestream. And yet another thing… even Cloud had been able to feel that Sephiroth wasn't even _slightly _using his full power. Why…?

Cloud had become so lost in memories that he slammed right into the other person that had been walking nearby. They both fell to the ground, a bit stunned. How had the other person not seen Cloud and avoided him…?

"Oh, er, I'm _so _sorry…" Cloud quickly apologized, standing up. The other person cautiously stood up as well, although it was a bit too dark for Cloud to see what they looked like when they were in the shadows.

"Er, it's quite alright… I apologize, I should have seen you. You obviously became lost in a memory… I've done that before…"

Cloud froze at the voice. It… no. At first, Cloud thought that he recognized the voice, but he thought that his mind _must _be playing tricks on him. But then… then, the person had said 'a memory', and Cloud knew that he couldn't be mistaking the voice. He remembered the last thing that that voice had said to him: _I will… _never _be a memory._

The man stood up into the dim light of the moon. He was wearing a normal black shirt and dark blue jeans, which wasn't what Cloud was expecting. He was probably 6'1, which was six inches taller than Cloud. His hair was long and silver, and it was easy to see how unnaturally pale his skin was because of the moonlight. His eyes were a mixture of blue and grey, but… his pupils were… normal? What the heck? Instead of his pupils being slit and reptilian-like, a trait that Cloud had always thought matched his snake-like personality, his pupils actually looked perfectly human. They didn't even have the murderous, sadistic, and yet calm look in them that Cloud was so used to. What was going on here…?

Whatever was happening, Cloud couldn't hide his surprise. He jumped backwards, stopping only because he slammed into a wall. "S-Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth tilted his head. "Do I know you…?"

Cloud paused. Surely, this was a trick. But why would Sephiroth need to trick him…? "You… don't remember me? You're joking, right? Don't think you can fool me. After everything you've put me through… I know what you're capable of…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I'm sorry, but… Whatever I've done in my past, I don't-"

"Oh, just drop it. We both know that you couldn't have forgotten! Why don't you just kill me already?" What game was he trying to play now?

Sephiroth took a step back, looking genuinely startled. "Listen, I have _no idea _what you're talking about… I can't remember anything before a few weeks back… Whatever I've done in my past, it wasn't me… er, uh, I mean, it's not me now… I can't remember who I used to be… So, maybe you could help?"

Cloud paused. Was he serious…? If this was no game… perhaps Cloud could use this to his advantage… But why had he said that it 'hadn't been him'…? What did that even mean? Why did Cloud get the feeling that that was what he had actually meant to say…?

Cloud sighed. "You don't remember? That's… impossible…" He had said 'a few weeks back', right? So he _was _the reason Cloud had been feeling so agitated…

Sephiroth looked at Cloud desperately. "Please… you have to help me…" He winced, as though someone had hit him. "With remembering, I mean. I mean… I don't know what I mean… I just woke up on top of a building and everything a few weeks ago, and ever since then, I've been doing my best to figure everything out… I've been staying in Midgar, in one of the abandoned houses that it still intact and fully functional… I don't know why the city was abandoned, but… Well, you seem to know me, so… can you help?" Sephiroth looked away, hiding his face.

Cloud paused. Why had he winced? And why had he turned away…? Ah, it didn't matter. What mattered was how truthful Sephiroth's story sounded. And it made perfect sense, too. Sephiroth truly seemed to have forgotten everything. Maybe Cloud _could _use this to his advantage. If Sephiroth never remembered who he was, and never figured it out… then he wouldn't ever come back from the Lifestream, and he wouldn't ever pose a threat to the Planet. Or Cloud and his friends. Or, of course, Cloud's chest, as that was where Sephiroth seemed to prefer stabbing him. Cloud found himself suddenly believing every word.

Wait a minute… How could Cloud be believing this so easily? This was his _enemy. _He could _never _trust Sephiroth. So why did he find himself trusting his adversary so easily?

Cloud glared at Sephiroth. "If you're trying to control me again, it won't work," he growled angrily.

Sephiroth actually chuckled slightly before looking at Cloud. "You're joking, right? Is such a thing even possible?" Even as he talked, Sephiroth was still smiling slightly. The only time Cloud had ever seen Sephiroth smile was when he was causing Cloud extreme pain, so Cloud couldn't help but wince.

Cloud sighed. "I used to think the same thing… Then I almost killed my friend…" Cloud shook his head to avoid the sadness that had almost engulfed him.

Sephiroth looked down. "Oh, um… I'm sorry?"

Cloud closed his eyes for a moment, looking away. "I got control of myself… but… Well, someone else killed her…"

Sephiroth looked at Cloud, who held his enemy's sad gaze in his own. "You should kill whoever did that to you and your friend."

Cloud found himself unable to look away from Sephiroth's sad eyes. "I did… he keeps coming back…"

Sephiroth looked away. "That makes no sense, sorry to say."

Cloud smirked. "That's what I think to myself, every day."

Cloud looked up at the sky. He hadn't realized how late it was. What would Tifa think if she noticed that he was gone…?

"I need to get going…" Cloud said, not really sure what else to say. Sephiroth nodded.

"Oh, of course… I didn't mean to hold you up… Er, see you later, Cloud?"

Cloud sighed. He'd rather never see Sephiroth again, but… maybe this could be a good thing. "Yeah, sure thing."

Sephiroth nodded and walked off in the direction Cloud needed to go, so Cloud turned back the way he had come from, deciding to go a different way. He started to walk off, but then paused. Had Sephiroth just gone the way he had been coming from…? Why had he been coming this way, if he was only going to turn and go the same way he had come…?

Cloud sighed. Perhaps that meant that Sephiroth's memory truly _was _messed up. That would be amazing… to not have to worry about being killed anytime in the near future… But what had messed up his memory so badly? Had he wanted to live so much that he had decided to sacrifice his memories in order to have a second chance? Did that mean that _all _of his memories were gone? Would he know how to fight still? Would he still have the strength and power he had used to have? If so, Cloud would need to figure out how to keep Sephiroth from accidentally using any of that catastrophic power…

Cloud thought that he felt someone watching him, but that could have been anyone. Of course, since Sephiroth was back… could it possibly be JENOVA that was watching him? Was such a thing possible? Hopefully not… Cloud just always thought of the worst-case scenarios…

Cloud sighed and walked off towards 7th Heaven, not certain what would be waiting for him when he returned.


	2. Lies

_**Lies**_

Cloud quietly opened the door to the building that was both Tifa's bar and the 'family's' house. He wasn't sure of the time, but he knew that he'd been gone for a while.

Sure enough, he saw a nearby clock that told him that it was 2:38. Hopefully, everyone was still asleep...

Of course, Cloud never had such luck. As soon as he got upstairs, he found that Tifa was waiting for him in their shared room. She was sitting on her bed, which was a few feet away from his.

Tifa's dark brown, nearly black hair was brushed neatly and she was in her normal black leather outfit, so Cloud assumed that she had been waiting for him this whole time. He wondered if she had ever gone to sleep at all.

Tifa narrowed her hazel eyes. There was a look in them that made Cloud a bit worried for his life. "Do you know how _worried _I've been?"

Cloud rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry… I just went out for a walk, that's all."

"You could have _told _me!"

"I know, I…"

Tifa shook her head, the almost murderous look in her eyes changing to worry. "I just… I know how agitated you've been lately… And I remember how that was how you would act both of the times that Sephiroth tried to come back… I just don't want him to come back for real, if he ever tries again. And if he _does…_ well, I don't want you to try to face him alone again. He's had more power every time you've faced him… And that one time back in the Northern Crater, when he had us all at his mercy… I've never felt so much power before… And if he's _stronger_…"

Cloud sighed. "Tifa, you talk too much. Don't worry about Sephiroth. It's…" Cloud paused. He wanted to tell her, but he didn't want her to get hurt. He didn't want her to try and do anything irrational… he couldn't bear to lose her… Even if she didn't feel the same way about him, Cloud would gladly give his life to save Tifa's.

Cloud shook his head. "It's been three years, and I haven't seen a trace of Sephiroth. If… if he was going to try to come back again, I think that he would have made a point of letting me know. It's not like him to be entirely subtle… or to wait so long without making a single move."

Tifa looked at him. "I know… I don't know why I'm worrying about him so suddenly. I made a point of forgetting about him… but all of these memories are rushing back to me recently… Perhaps that's the move he's making?"

"I doubt it. He likes to torment _me, _not you. You shouldn't be worried. And if he tries to come back again… Well, I'll stop him before he can. Alright?"

Tifa nodded. "Alright… Just… if he comes back, will you tell me?"

Cloud looked out of the window. "I… I'll do my best to."

Tifa smirked. "Alright then… So… do you want to get some sleep, or are you going to stay awake any longer?"

Cloud nodded. "I think we should get some sleep…"

Sighing, Tifa lay down in her bed, as Cloud lay down on his. He didn't know what the next day would bring, but he sure wasn't looking forward to it. He had one delivery tomorrow, as he ran the only delivery service in Edge, but… His one delivery was to the Forgotten City of the Ancients. Elmyra, the woman who had been with Cloud's now-deceased friend Aerith while she had grown up, had asked Cloud to deliver flowers to the Forgotten City for Aerith, just like she asked him to do every now and then.

Aerith had been the last Cetra – also called the Ancients, which had basically been a race of people that had looked human but had been able to talk to the Planet – and had been the one to summon Holy using the White Materia at the Forgotten City. Cloud and his friends had gotten there just as Aerith was finishing putting the summon in action. Sephiroth or JENOVA (Cloud still really wasn't quite certain which it had been) had tried to take control of Cloud and use him to kill Aerith. However, when Cloud had gotten control of himself, Sephiroth – or Jenova (Cloud decided to start treating Jenova's name as a name instead of a title now) in Sephiroth's form, which was another possibility – had leapt from above and killed Aerith. Aerith had _just _completed summoning Holy, and the White Materia fell somewhere into the lake that the city rested in (literally _in_), but all that had mattered at the time was that she had just been killed. Cloud had never bothered to look for the White Materia, as he was pretty certain that it had sunk to the bottom of the lake, never to be found again.

Anyways, Elmyra had Cloud deliver Aerith's favorite flowers to the site every now and then. Ever since Cloud had stopped blaming himself for what had happened to Aerith, he had found the place to be quite calm, and he always spent hours sitting there, simply thinking about… well, everything. But now that Sephiroth was back…

Cloud continued to lay in silence. He was pretty certain that Tifa was asleep already, but he had also thought that when he had left.

Cloud thought for a moment about Sephiroth. Maybe he should bring his old enemy to the Forgotten City… perhaps it would affect him the same way it always affected Cloud. And there weren't any powerful objects there that Sephiroth could get a hold of; if, in fact, he _did_ remember everything. The White Materia's solidity would have sunk it to the bottom of the lake, so that wouldn't be an issue. And Cloud obviously wasn't going to go into the main part of the city or anything, so…

Cloud couldn't help his exhaustion, so he finally fell asleep. And he instantly wished that he hadn't.

_Cloud looked around cautiously. Where was he…? Everything was black. Cloud could only see himself, and everything else was covered in some kind of odd black mist. He knew that he was dreaming, but… there was something else going on here. And there was some_one_ else here, somewhere. It was the same presence that Cloud knew all too well: the overwhelming presence of Jenova._

"_Hello, Cloud. It's been awhile."_

_Jenova's voice sounded the exact same as the one other time Cloud had heard it: basically, like the voice of a regular woman, except for the fact that her – Cloud assumed Jenova was female, since Sephiroth always called her 'mother' – every word seemed to be taunting him. _

_Cloud couldn't see anything, but he knew that there was no real need. He knew that he was in no danger in a dream world. _

"_Don't be so naïve, Cloud," Jenova chided. Hearing her voice for more than one line was definitely new; Cloud had always thought that maybe she didn't speak his language or something, or didn't really know how to speak at all unless using part of Sephiroth's power. But it seemed that she had just never felt the need to speak before, besides that one time back in the Forgotten City._

"_You honestly think you are in no danger here?" Jenova continued. "I know you are not a _complete _idiot. I'm inside your mind at the moment… you should know by now how much peril you could possibly be in at the moment."_

_Cloud hadn't thought of that… "Didn't I already kill you? A lot? As in, every part of you at separate times?" Cloud asked bitterly, trying his best to not show any weakness._

"_You've already killed our friend Sephy as well, haven't you? And I – I, _ahem_, could be wrong, but… he's not so dead at the moment. So… your point would be…?"_

_Cloud had never thought Jenova would be one to stutter… Perhaps she _didn't _know his language very well after all… But that didn't matter right now._

"_Let's just cut to it," Cloud snapped at the darkness around him. "What the hell do you want from me?"_

"_What do I want from you? Hmm… Well, you will never be strong enough, and you will never be _good _enough for me to truly use you as an ally. You will never rise above what you are now, so there's no hope of that fact changing any time in the future. However, I do believe that you can be of use to me, without a doubt."_

"_Did you just do this to taunt and insult me…?"_

"_Partially. But I also wanted you to know that if you do anything to harm Sephiroth, or if you make any move to tell him the _truth _about himself – and I don't mean just about what happened, I mean the _real, full _truth – then I will not hesitate to kill you and everyone you know. Understand?"_

_Cloud glared at where he thought the voice was coming from. "Yes. I wouldn't make any move to tell him about himself anyways, as he'd probably not listen and do the same as you're threatening to do…"_

"_Exactly! Glad we both have come to an understanding. You don't want him to find out the truth, and _I_ don't want him to find out the truth. I bet that we'd be able to keep him from finding out if we work together…"_

"_I'm _not _working with you."_

"_I know. You're working _for _me. And don't think, by the way, that just because I'm not going to kill you, I'm going to_ _accept you as an ally. I'm not going to tell you my plans or anything like that."_

"_Don't monologue. I get it. Besides, I already know your plans."_

"_To take over the world and use it to take over other worlds, you mean? Oh no, Cloud Strife. There is a lot more going on here than your human mind can perceive. And I'm not going to tell you what."_

"_That's fine. I'm not interested anyways."_

"_Also… Take Sephiroth with you to the Forgotten City tomorrow, alright?"_

"_Have you been stalking me or something?"_

"_Yes, your point?"_

_Cloud sighed unhappily. "Fine. Can I go now?"_

"_Heh. Fine."_

_Then, without another word from Jenova, all of the darkness rushed in on Cloud. He barely got a glimpse of a figure standing nearby before whatever consciousness he had at the moment was shattered._


	3. Facing Forward

_**Facing Forward**_

Cloud gasped as he woke up, which startled the nearby Tifa. She had apparently just woken up as well, and was looking at Cloud with worry in her eyes.

"Cloud? Are you… what happened?"

Cloud shook his head unhappily. "All of your talk about Sephiroth last night gave me nightmares… Ugh, never mind. It doesn't matter."

Tifa sighed. "Alright… Sorry about that… So, um, what now?"

Cloud looked out of the window at the rising sun. "Now we begin a normal day. You take care of the bar, I take care of deliveries. I need to go to the Forgotten City today, so I'm sorry if I get back late."

Tifa nodded. "Be careful… I feel like _something _with Sephiroth is happening even as we speak, and I don't want you to get caught up in that, alright?"

_Too late… _Cloud thought. But he nodded. "I'll call if anything goes wrong. Don't worry about me. And don't worry about Sephiroth. That's over, okay?" Cloud desperately wanted to tell her everything that was happening, but he didn't want her to know that her life hung on whether or not Sephiroth found out the truth…

Tifa smiled gently. "Alright. See you later, okay?"

"Definitely."

Cloud and Tifa both walked downstairs. Marlene was already sitting at one of the tables, waiting for them. The ten-year-old's brown hair was tied back in a ponytail using the red ribbon she always had, and she was wearing a grey shirt and sweats.

"Hey, Cloud! Where were you last night? I fell asleep before you got back, but I knew you had left…"

Cloud smiled slightly. "I was just taking a walk… Where's Denzel?"

"Still asleep, I think… He was up longer than I was…"

Cloud nodded. "Alright; just making sure. I'm going to be gone all day, and Tifa will be working, so you and Denzel are going to have to find a way to keep each other occupied for today… Alright?"

Marlene nodded and ran up the stairs. Cloud sighed and started to walk out of the bar before Tifa called to him.

"Cloud? Just… remember that you can tell me anything, alright?"

Cloud paused, and then nodded. "I know. And I will, okay? Just… Trust me. Alright?"

Cloud didn't wait for Tifa's response, and walked outside.

Edge was already bustling with life as the day started. Cloud went to find his motorcycle, Fenrir, which he leapt on as soon as he found it. He quickly put on his goggles and made certain that all of the Fusion Swords were still there, just in case something went wrong. And it was very probable that something would go wrong…

Elmyra had already given Cloud the flowers for Aerith, so now all Cloud had to do was get Sephiroth and get to the city itself.

Cloud rode Fenrir through the busy streets of Edge, heading towards the recently-rebuilt highway that only WRO members could use to get into Midgar. He found it quite ironic that Sephiroth was living there, as he was the one who had destroyed it in the first place.

It didn't take very long for Cloud to get into what was officially Midgar. The city had been all but forsaken, thanks to Meteor. There were still some people living there, but very few. Most of the citizens that had survived Meteorfall were now living in Edge.

Midgar may have been destroyed, but that didn't mean that it wasn't still huge. How was Cloud supposed to find Sephiroth in all of this…?

Cloud paused. He had gone from hating Sephiroth's entire existence to trying to find him and take him to the Forgotten City. Of course, Cloud _did _still hate him, but…

_Ugh… How the hell am I supposed to find him?_

_He could find you…_

Cloud jumped… literally. He leapt right off of Fenrir for a second because the voice had startled him so much. Especially since he had recognized the voice as Jenova's…

Cloud shook his head unhappily, making sure that he was firmly on Fenrir as it continued forward. Could he just ignore Jenova? Yes, that was what he would do. Treat that thing as though it was just simply the nearly-dead test subject of Shinra, just like he once had.

Excuse _me? You should do well to remember that I'm _in your head_ before insulting me._

"It's the truth, though…" Cloud muttered, surprised that he found himself responding.

_Well… Okay, _maybe _it is… or, was… But that's a thing of the past now._

"Yes. _Now _you're dead. I don't know how your mind is still able to exist, let alone talk to me, but that doesn't matter. Just… leave me alone."

_Uh, no. Not going to happen. I may be dead – kind of – but I am persistent. Normally, I'd just leave. However, I am now so entwined in- Ah, never mind. That would tell you what I'm doing._

"Didn't I already tell you not to monologue? I couldn't care less. Someday, I'll find a way to get rid of you forever and then kill Sephiroth – assuming he hasn't figured everything out by then and joined the good side. Even then, I will probably kill him for what he's done."

_Wow. You know, I like that attitude. Anyways, shut up and give me a second to get Sephiroth to you… Just, stop there and hang out for a moment…_

"You're starting to sound awfully human with your words lately…"

_I _know. _I _hate _it. But oh well. I guess I have been here for too long, and have come across too many souls to have _not _have my personality changed, albeit slightly… I'm telling you, this Lifestream does _weird_ things to you… Ack, never mind… Didn't I say to shut up?_

Cloud sighed and pulled Fenrir to a stop. He didn't trust Jenova in the slightest, but he knew that he had no choice. But how long would he have to wait…?

_Oh _hey, _he's actually right over there! I didn't even have to _do _anything… He saw you, so just wait for a few seconds. _

Sure enough, Cloud saw Sephiroth walking over to him. He was in the same outfit as the day before, and still looked too normal for Cloud… despite his long silver hair and pale skin, of course.

"Oh, hey Cloud. What are you doing here?" he asked. Cloud sighed.

"Er… I'm going out on a delivery… Do you want to… come with?" Cloud was pretty sure Fenrir could support two people… probably…

"Huh? Oh, uh… sure? Where to…?"

"A place called the Forgotten City… I don't know if you've been there in your past, but… maybe it could help?" Cloud couldn't believe he was saying this…

"I don't remember that name, but… maybe I _have _been there before? I don't know, but… how far away is it?"

"A few hours. Are you alright with that?"

Sephiroth nodded, somehow getting onto the back of Fenrir. Cloud then took off, heading to probably the last place he wanted to be.


	4. Faded Power

**A/N: Alright, I'll admit it. I'm a Cloti. So I'm going to add a bit of that in here… Just thought I'd mention it…**

* * *

_**Faded Power**_

Cloud looked around the all-too-familiar scenery of the Forgotten City as he pulled Fenrir to a stop. It had been about a year since he had last been here to do the exact same thing he was doing now. However, what he was _really _remembering was when he had fought Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo here three years ago.

Kadaj had gotten the other 'Sephiroth Remnants', Loz and Yazoo, to kidnap all of the children from Edge that had had a mysterious illness known as Geostigma – a sickness which turned out to have been caused by Sephiroth. Cloud had come here to rescue the children, but things hadn't exactly gone as planned. Cloud had only really made it out alive because his friend, Vincent Valentine, had come in and rescued him at the last minute. Now that he knew it was possible for at least Sephiroth to come back, he found himself hoping that at least the Remnants would stay dead...

Cloud sighed, getting off of Fenrir and going over to the edge of the lake. There was a large shell-like structure at the center of it, and it was surrounded by a forest of crystal-like trees.

Sephiroth looked around, getting off of Fenrir and walking over to another part of the lake. "This place is amazing…" he said, not really paying attention to Cloud anymore. No, he seemed to be paying attention to… the lake? Yes, it was the lake that held his attention, which was understandable.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, it is," he said, setting the flowers down where he always did and hoping that, if Aerith's spirit was watching, she was happy.

Cloud turned away from Sephiroth, looking around at the scenery of the place that he hated yet loved coming to.

"Well, _that _was incredibly easy…" Cloud heard Sephiroth mutter to himself.

"What was?" Cloud asked, not turning around.

"Oh, just the delivery. Something so simple for a place so far away… So is that it? Are we done?"

Cloud shrugged. "Why are you in such a rush? I normally just sit here for a while… it's such a peaceful place, really…"

"A rush? I'm not in a rush… It's just that we have what we came here for now… Ah, alright, I guess we can stay for a bit… It's not like I have anything to do…"

Cloud finally turned around to look at Sephiroth, who was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed against his chest. "What do you mean by 'we', exactly? It was my job, not yours…"

"Well, yes, but I came with, so…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I guess…" He turned to look at the still water of the lake, but… found that it _wasn't _still, for once. Why? He hadn't touched it…

"Hey, Sephiroth? Did you touch the lake? I've never seen it ripple by itself…"

"Huh?" Sephiroth paused, looking over at the lake. "Oh, uh, sort of… there was a stone that seemed out of place, so I put it in the lake…" He smiled, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the tree. "And let me just say, this lake doesn't seem to be affected by gravity correctly…"

Cloud thought back to when he had put Aerith in the lake. She had sunk to the bottom easily enough, which actually shouldn't have happened. She should have floated, but she had simply sunk. Perhaps gravity _was _messed up in this lake, which would probably make things with less density sink and things with more density float after a bit. That would definitely make sense. But then again, why had the White Materia sunk? Assuming it had, since nobody had ever found it? Cloud could only imagine how much of a field day the insane – and now dead – scientist Hojo would have had with this lake…

"Yeah, I know. This lake has gravity issues… But, shouldn't it be floating then? Assuming that that's what you're suggesting?"

"Ah, yes, so I took it back out. The water looks so much better when it is unmarred, don't you think?"

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, I guess… So, um… Are any memories coming back to you?"

"Nope. You really thought that they would?"

"I don't know… Maybe I could list some names that you may know? And you could tell me what comes to mind when you hear them?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Sure. List away."

"Okay… Lazard?"

"Desert animal?"

Cloud smirked. "Lazard, not lizard… Um… SOLDIER?"

"Hell… Sorry, I don't know why that's the first thing I think of, but…"

"That's one way of looking at it, I guess… Let's see… Genesis?"

"Japanese rock star."

Cloud paused. "Er… huh?"

"I don't know… This isn't working. You seriously think that this is going to help?"

Cloud shook his head, sitting down against a tree. "I don't know… I thought that, maybe, this place would have _some _effect on you… Has it?"

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "Yes, definitely. Heh, in fact, this place makes me feel as though I have all I need to continue forward… To make it through whatever is happening lately."

"Lately…?" Could Sephiroth feel that something was going on, even without his memories? Jenova _had _said that there was more going on than Cloud knew… Since Sephiroth had obviously known what was going on, perhaps he was starting to subconsciously remember that there was something important happening at the moment… But what _was _it, anyways?

_So you _do _want to know! Hah! And I'm _not _going to tell you._

Sephiroth jumped slightly, looking at the shadow from the crystal tree on his right, and Cloud paused. Could Sephiroth sense Jenova's sudden presence…?

"Shut up… I couldn't care less. Just leave me alone, already," Cloud muttered, hoping that Sephiroth couldn't hear him.

"Are you alright?" Cloud asked Sephiroth, feeling that Jenova was still present somewhere, somehow.

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and sighed unhappily. "I guess… What just happened, exactly? I felt like… I don't know _what _I felt."

Cloud shook his head. He didn't want Sephiroth to know about Jenova even in the slightest. "It was probably nothing. Just your imagination."

Sephiroth smirked. "Sure," he said, turning to face Cloud again. "So… what now?"

Cloud sighed in relief as he felt Jenova's presence leave. Hopefully, she wouldn't be back anytime soon… "I don't know… We could just stay here for a bit longer. Perhaps you'll remember something?"

"Doubt it, but sure. But we can't be back too late… You probably have someone waiting for you, right? Girlfriend, perhaps?"

Cloud froze. "G-girlfriend? Oh, uh, no! Well, I mean… No, no, she's just my friend! It's nothing more than that, alright?"

"But you want it to be, right?"

Cloud stared at Sephiroth. How could he possibly know that…? Sephiroth's eyes held the cruel yet humorous look that Cloud felt more used to, which probably meant that he still retained at least some of his personality. He was also smirking, and he looked entirely evil once again. Yet Cloud could tell that he wasn't actually 'evil' at the moment; he was just toying with Cloud, which would probably be something he felt comfort in. Yet, Cloud could also tell that his old enemy was being serious in his inquiry about Cloud's feelings.

"I… I don't really know. We've been friends since we were little, she and I. I'll admit it; I _have _always had feeling for her, but… Well, first off, I doubt that she feels the same. And also, I _did _have feelings for one other girl at one point, but… well, I guess I've always had stronger feelings for Tifa than for Aerith… besides, it's not like I could be with Aerith, even if I wanted to…"

"I'm assuming Aerith is the friend of yours that died, right?"

Cloud sighed. "Here, actually. I know she's watching over me… She's saved my life more than once, even while she's dead…"

Sephiroth muttered something to himself, and Cloud knew what: he thought Cloud was crazy. "Actually, it's true, too. She was… well, let's just say that she was different than… regular people. She still retains a lot of her power, even in death…" Cloud glanced at Sephiroth, "just like another person I've known, but… Well, Aerith has been able to heal and help me from the Lifestream, which is the exact opposite of the other person who has extreme power in death…"

"Ah, I'm sure whoever this other person is, he or she isn't your enemy by choice, right? They probably don't _want _to fight you… why would they come back from death simply to fight you?"

Cloud thought back to that last fight with Sephiroth in Midgar, just three years ago. "If you could see the look in his eyes, you'd understand… I know that he has ulterior motives, but I also know that he would be content if he killed me, even if his other plans failed…"

Sephiroth smirked, leaning his head back against the tree and closing his eyes again. "Are you sure? Because that doesn't make much sense to me… To be able to persist through death, your enemy would have to be both strong and smart. Insane or not, it wouldn't matter. Someone so powerful would have to have multiple plans. Some of their plans would be if everything went according to plan, and the others would be if the original plans failed. If there's one thing I've remembered since I woke up without my memories, it's that the smartest antagonists always have at least six plans. The first is the obvious one. Two are for if at least one of the others succeeds. Two are for if the others fail."

Cloud couldn't help but be interested. "And the last?"

"Well, the last is the one you'll never see coming. The last is the person's _true _plan… and the plan that they don't want you to know. They'll distract you with their other plans, while their true plan slowly but surely goes ahead just as it should. And you'll never know. By the time the protagonist – in this case, I'm assuming that's you – figures out what this last plan is, it will be too late."

_Did… did he just tell me something without even knowing it? _Cloud thought to himself, forgetting about Jenova.

Sephiroth jumped suddenly. "_What the hell?_"

Cloud paused. "What?"

Sephiroth froze. "I… I think someone just hit me, but… there's nobody there?"

Cloud heard Jenova laugh slightly. _That's what he gets for telling you something… He may not remember that he actually _is _telling you something, but that's beside the point._

Sephiroth shook his head. "Ah, never mind… So what about this Tifa girl?"

Cloud sighed unhappily. Such a change of subject… Sephiroth must have been able to tell that he shouldn't be telling Cloud about the plans and everything, even without remembering that he was actually saying anything important. "Oh, er… Tifa is my friend… She lives with me in Edge, but we're just friends."

"Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

Cloud walked over to the edge of the lake, kneeling down next to it. "Because I doubt that she feels the same way… She would have said something by now…"

Sephiroth sighed. "You're a very complicated person… How do you _know _that she doesn't feel the same way? Has she ever said one way or the other? I have a feeling that she feels the same way for you as you do for her…"

"And how could you _possibly _know that?"

"Well… If she's fine with the two of you living under the same roof, then she must be at least _slightly _attracted to you… Right?"

Cloud paused. "Well… I guess that's true… And we _do _sleep in the same room, although we have separate beds…"

"And there's your answer right there. You may have separate beds, but if she wants you to sleep in the same room, then… I mean, come on. You're obviously ignoring any signs she's putting forward…"

"Yeah, I guess I may be…"

Sephiroth walked up behind Cloud, but Cloud froze as he saw his old enemy's reflection in the water of the lake. In the lake, Sephiroth looked just like he had before: his skin was unnaturally pale, and his eyes had the slit pupils. He was still wearing the same outfit, but that didn't really matter, as what he was wearing wasn't actually a part of him.

Cloud jumped up, slamming into Sephiroth on purpose in order to keep him from seeing his own reflection. Both of them fell to the ground, and Cloud heard Jenova laughing again. She was enjoying this far too much…

Sephiroth shook his head. "Can you please get off of me, Cloud?" he asked, sounding calm and annoyed at the same time.

Cloud swallowed hard, quickly standing up. He hadn't even realized that he had landed on top of Sephiroth…

Sephiroth sighed, standing up and brushing himself off. Luckily, he was back to looking more human again. The lake must have just reflected what he _really _looked like for a moment…

"What was that for, exactly?" Sephiroth asked, shaking his head.

"I… I, er, just saw something in the lake, I think…"

Sephiroth sighed. "I think you've been here for too long…"

Cloud sighed, but then remembered that Sephiroth had been looking in the lake earlier. "Hey... Sephiroth? When you were looking in the lake earlier... Did you look different in your reflection?"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes, sighing. "No, Cloud. I looked exactly like I should."

Cloud nodded. "Oh, right… Okay, let's go..."

Cloud started to head towards his bike, but froze. Had he just heard someone call his name…? Urgently, too. And it hadn't been Jenova. But it had been so faint…

Sephiroth looked at Cloud. "Are you alright…?"

"I… yeah, I think…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Then let's go."

_Cloud! Can't you hear me?_

Cloud jumped. "Aerith?"

Sephiroth froze. He didn't even turn around. "I thought she was dead…? Are you feeling alright?"

Cloud looked around in all directions, but didn't see his friend anywhere. He felt her, though. She was trying to pull him into a dreamstate, just like she had done when the Remnants had been Cloud's biggest problem. But she must have been in the Lifestream too long, because she wasn't succeeding… He could feel as though there was also some sort of mediator now; someone trying to help Aerith. He didn't recognize who this was, though, especially since they weren't saying anything. But, whoever was helping didn't matter; why was Aerith suddenly so weak?!

"Sephiroth… Are you doing this?"

Sephiroth turned around. "Doing _what_? I'm just waiting for you…"

Cloud's sight was constantly changing. It was going from the Forgotten City to the flower field of Aerith's dreamstate, but only for about half a second at a time. And it was faint, too. Cloud knew that Aerith still had some power in the Lifestream, being a Cetra, but… what was happening now?

Cloud collapsed to the ground. Aerith's attempts to pull him out of reality were becoming too much.

"Cloud!" Sephiroth cried out, rushing to Cloud's side. "What…? What's going on?"

Cloud struggled to stand up, as Aerith's presence had left. "I… I don't… I don't _know_… I don't want to leave, but I feel like we should… There's something going on here, and I don't know what, but I don't like it."

Sephiroth nodded, helping Cloud stand up and then helping him onto his bike. "Alright. Let's go, then…"

Sephiroth fit onto the back of Fenrir, and Cloud, after taking a deep breath, took off back towards Midgar with only one thought in his mind:

_What is going on?_


	5. Understanding

_**Understanding**_

Cloud sighed as he pulled to a stop in Midgar. It was an even more depressing place during the night, which was definitely saying something.

Sephiroth leapt off of Fenrir. "So… see you tomorrow?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I guess." He looked up at the darkness of night. Because Midgar had been razed, it was easy to see through the plates that had once covered the sky. "Do you mind if I stay for a bit? Tifa is probably expecting me to be a bit late, as I normally get back much later than this…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Be my guest. There's not much to do, though…"

Cloud sighed, getting off of his bike. "Yeah, I know… Maybe we could just talk for a bit?" Cloud wanted to see if he could get Sephiroth to subconsciously tell him anything more about what was going on. Maybe then he could find out about what happened with Aerith.

Sephiroth looked around. "Yeah, I guess…" He walked over to one of the houses and sat down against the wall. Cloud walked over and sat down next to him.

"So…" Cloud started, sighing. "Where did you wake up? Without memories and everything?"

"I told you when we met last night, remember? On top of a building nearby. I don't know what I had been doing up there, but…"

Cloud smirked. He remembered exactly what had happened up there… It had just been Sephiroth controlling Kadaj, but that must have been enough for Sephiroth to have woken up there. It made perfect sense. "Huh… I don't know, really. Sorry…"

"Eh, that's fine. I don't really care, anyways. Basically, ever since then, I've been keeping my distance from civilization… I don't know why, I just feel as though I should stay away from other people…"

"That would probably be best… You know, until you get your memories back and everything…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah… After all, for all I know, everyone hates me, right? I mean, obviously that wouldn't make sense, but without knowing anything…"

"Exactly. And so… you don't remember _anything _from your past?"

"Just feelings."

Cloud paused. "Of?"

"Hatred, I guess. But… mostly depression. Whatever I did in my past, I felt like I had to do it, but I didn't necessarily want to. It made me sad. I don't know what it was, but…"

"Well, _that _doesn't make sense… Wait, something you had to do?"

Cloud expected Jenova to say something, but she apparently wasn't listening at the moment. Why…?

"Yes, Cloud." Sephiroth looked up at the sky. "Something I had to do. Someone I had to stop. And I get the feeling that I still need to stop them…"

_Must be me…_ Cloud thought to himself. _There was nobody else that he ever tried to stop, so he must have felt like he had to stop me. With being insane and all, that probably would have felt like the right thing for him to do. To destroy all good…_

Sephiroth laughed slightly. Cloud looked at him, surprised. Sephiroth shook his head. "Sorry. It's just… so hard to not remember anything, and yet feel such strong feelings about what happened. It's almost funny, really." Sephiroth paused. "I also remember…" he closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked at Cloud. A thought seemed to strike him. "I remember… 'The puppet and his master'. Heh. But… It wasn't who everyone thought it was."

_Even without remembering anything, he still remembers treating me like a puppet…_

"And I remember feeling so out of control…" Sephiroth looked away from Cloud.

Cloud froze. Sephiroth had felt… out of control? Of what? Or, more likely, who? Cloud, perhaps? That may make sense. That would have meant that he had bluffed quite a lot, knowing that Cloud was never truly under his control. After all, Cloud had never really been a puppet, except for when he had thought he _was_ one.

Sephiroth shook his head. "I can tell that you don't get it…"

"No… I understand… I've felt out of control so much in my life. And I've felt like a puppet… Literally. Someone could control me…"

_After all, the life that flows inside of him burns inside of me… _Cloud thought to himself. The Jenova Cells, the very essence of Sephiroth's being – mostly – had been injected into Cloud, and Sephiroth could use that to control him. Jenova's power flowed through Cloud's veins, but he had never once accepted it. Because of that, he had never been able to use her power – not that he wanted to, even slightly. Even if he _had _accepted Jenova's power, his power wouldn't be even close to Sephiroth's, obviously. After all, much of Cloud's blood was still the blood of a human, unlike Sephiroth…

Sephiroth nodded. "I remember you mentioning that. I don't understand how such a thing is possible, but it seems to be."

"Oh, it's definitely possible. So I know just what you mean when you say that you've felt out of control…"

"Yeah… That makes sense. I remember feeling that I had no control over my destiny. Not once. I didn't get to choose my fate; it was chosen for me. Most people can choose where to go with their life, or at least whether or not to turn their backs on their duty. However… I never had such a choice. I don't know how, and I don't think that I want to."

Cloud shook his head. "I doubt that you want to. But now… perhaps that can change. Perhaps now you_ can_ choose your fate."

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "I wish… But you know as well as I do that that is not true. Once your fate is chosen, it is set in stone. There's no changing that… no matter how hard you try."

Cloud paused. "How can you believe that…?"

"Someone told me that in my past… I don't know who, but I know that they were right. They had to force me to believe it at first, but eventually I realized how true it was… Oh, never mind... It doesn't matter if I don't remember what really happened. Why am I talking about this…? And… don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Not for a while, no. Tifa can wait."

"And I can't? I'll be fine, Cloud. Don't you worry about me."

"I…" Cloud sighed. "Fine, if that's what you want. But I'll be back tomorrow, alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Why, though?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "I don't know… Perhaps I could bring Tifa to meet you, assuming I'm still alive after I tell her."

Sephiroth froze. "You're going to tell Tifa about me…? Why do I get the feeling that this is going to end badly?"

"Ah, because it is. She'll probably kill at least me… Oh well, my life was getting far too complicated anyways…"

Sephiroth smirked, standing up and helping Cloud to his feet. "Why would she kill you, exactly?"

"That doesn't matter… She just doesn't like it when I keep anything from her…"

"Ah. I see. Good luck, then…"

Cloud nodded, watching Sephiroth walk away. He then walked over to Fenrir, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Tifa as soon as Sephiroth was out of sight.

"_Hello?"_

Cloud sighed. "Hey, Tifa…"

"_Cloud? Is everything alright?"_

"Sort of… I have something to tell you… about Sephiroth."

Tifa was silent, but after a moment she sighed. _"I knew you would… Where are you?"_

"Close. I'll be back in about twenty minutes or so."

"_Then tell me when you get back. I have a feeling that we have a lot to talk about…"_

"Yeah, we do. I'll be back soon, alright?"

"_Alright. Be careful…"_

Cloud nodded, even though he knew that Tifa couldn't see him. "I will."

Cloud sighed and hung up, putting his phone away again. He wasn't sure how Tifa was going to react, but she obviously wasn't going to like this. However, Cloud didn't have time to think about that.

_Wait… you're going to tell your little girlfriend about this? _Jenova asked, obviously stunned. Cloud shrugged.

"Why not?"

_She'll tell Sephiroth the truth! The _real _truth! _

"No, she won't. I don't even know if she remembers the real truth, or if she ever knew it in the first place. And even if she does tell him, who really cares?"

A quick pain shot throughout Cloud's entire body. He cried out and gripped the handlebar of Fenrir as he recovered.

I _care! You still don't get that you're not in charge, do you? I could kill you if I really tried; don't you forget that._

Cloud shook his head. "I don't get it… How can you still affect me if you're dead?"

_Awww, the poor little puppet is confused. Heh, you'll figure it out; don't you worry about that. Just… go back to your little girlfriend. Tell her if you must, but also tell her that I'll kill her if she tells Sephiroth the truth._

Cloud shrugged. "Fine. Whatever. Where were you for the past hour or so, anyways?"

_Why do you care?_

"I don't. I just want to be certain that I'm not being set up."

_Where I was had nothing to do with you; not directly, at least. That is all that you need to know. Got it?_

Cloud sighed. "Fine, fine. Don't tell me. I'll find out myself."

_Wait… why did you care to notice that I wasn't listening? What did Sephiroth tell you?_

"Nothing, unfortunately. He did mention, though, that he faintly remembers someone telling him that once your fate is chosen, there is nothing that anyone can do to change it."

_Oh yeah, that was me…_

"I assumed… He said that he vaguely remembers that someone forced him to believe it…"

_Also me…_ _Did I mention that I'm not a very nice person?_

Cloud scoffed. "Even to Sephiroth? And how could you 'force' him to believe something?" Cloud paused, remembering that it was Jenova he was talking to. "You know what? I don't think I really want to know."

_That's probably a wise move, little puppet. Let's just say that I don't care what I must do, or who I must do it to. As long as I win. Hey, I think I'm getting my personality back! _

Cloud shook his head. "Whatever. I'm just going to start ignoring you now."

_Oh no you're not. I didn't start talking to you just to be ignored, alright? _

"Fine. Talk or don't talk; I don't care. It's not like you're helping me at all by talking, so you may just want to go back to being silent…"

_Nah; talking is too much fun. Plus, I like annoying you. And I never _was_ entirely silent to begin with, you know. I appeared and talked to Sephy sometimes… _

Cloud paused. "When, exactly?"

_Eh, every now and then. Nibleheim, when trying to summon Meteor… Really just whenever he was alone or needed either directions or… convincing. Heh._

Cloud shook his head, knowing how much of a sadist Jenova probably was and not wanting to know what she was hinting at. "And in the Lifestream?"

_Lifestream…? _Oh_!_ _Yeah, er, then too… Forgot about the Lifestream for a minute… Aw damn, it's affecting me again…_

"Yeah, I thought so. Sheesh, you're becoming more prominent and talkative than I thought you ever would…"

_I already told you; it's this Lifestream. It does stuff to you… Ugh, I _hate _this… I like my old personality! Well… I guess I_ am_ getting used to this… At least I'm not _too _different…_

"Oh yeah, that's so great…" Cloud thought for a moment. "Wait… why am I even talking to you?"

_I don't know. You can stop now, though. Go back to Tiffa or whatever…_

"Tifa… And fine."

Jenova didn't say anything else, so Cloud sighed and tore through the streets, heading back towards 7th Heaven and hoping only that he hadn't gotten himself into more than he could handle…


	6. Perceived Truth

**A/N: Sorry, I was writing the beginning of this at, like, 1 or 2 in the morning, so I get a little bit comical for a minute. But I can't bring myself to change it, so just bear with me here for a little bit…**

* * *

_**Perceived Truth**_

Cloud came back to quite an unexpected and slightly unwelcome sight: Tifa was having issues with a customer. What was even worse was that the customer was Reno of the Turks.

Tifa was shaking her head. "I'm sorry, Reno. I just can't go out with you…" she was saying, which made Cloud both jealous and happy.

Reno shook his head. "But _why not?_ I mean come on, it's not like you're taken or something…"

Tifa sighed; and then she saw Cloud. Her entire face lit up, and she nodded for Cloud to come over to her. "Actually, Reno…"

Cloud walked over to Tifa, not certain where this was going and yet completely certain of Tifa's next move.

"I _am_ taken," Tifa finished. She then kissed Cloud, and a feeling that Cloud had never known before raced throughout his entire body. Tifa pulled away – reluctantly, Cloud felt – smiling triumphantly at Reno.

_**Awwwwwwww, Cloti **_**score!**_** About time! **_Jenova said in Cloud's mind. Her voice was slightly more defined than it had been before, which probably wasn't good. She sounded the same, of course, but… Well, her voice seemed more _real_ now, even though it was still just in Cloud's mind.

_**Oh, uh, sorry, that's the name for you two… You learn a lot about other worlds in the Lifestream… Just ignore me…**_

Reno blinked quickly. "You and… Cloud? I thought you two were _never _going to get together… Damn, Shinra and I owe Rude and Elena ten gil…"

Tifa tilted her head. "Excuse me?"

Reno shrugged. "Well… you see… Rufus, Elena, Tseng, Rude, and I were kind of… um… placing bets?" He shook his head. "Elena and Rude bet that the two of you would get together. Tseng bet that, somehow, Cloud and Aerith would get together, as Tseng is now obviously attracted to Elena. And… well… um…" Reno looked cautiously at Cloud. "Rufus and I kind of… uh, bet that Cloud was so… well, Cloud, that he would kind of… end up alone?"

Cloud glared at Reno. "_Excuse _me? Why would I end up alone? I'm a very likeable person!"

_**Uh-huh, you keep on believing that… **_Jenova muttered.

Reno shrugged. "Sorry… We all knew that you were attracted to her, it was just that Rufus and I thought you were too scared to say anything…"

Cloud covered his face with his palm. Tifa, though, saved him. "No, he wasn't too scared. So bye-bye, Reno."

Reno sighed and walked out of 7th Heaven as Cloud uncovered his face again. He smirked, looking at Tifa. "Sorry about that…"

She shrugged. "No, I should be sorry… I just saw you there, and it was the first thing that came to mind… I didn't plan on kissing you… sorry…" She smiled then. "Was Reno telling the truth? That you're attracted to me?"

Cloud swallowed hard. "Oh, um… I…"

Tifa shook her head. "Ah, never mind. That can wait. Right now, we need to discuss Sephiroth. Right?"

Cloud nodded, relieved. "Yeah. Where are Denzel and Marlene?"

"Asleep, I hope… After all, it _is _almost midnight…" Tifa walked over and locked the front door before sitting down at a table and gesturing for Cloud to sit next to her.

"So…" Tifa started, looking Cloud in the eye. "What have you not been telling me?"

"That you're right."

Tifa sighed, shaking her head. "I knew it… He's back. Why wouldn't you tell me that? And why are neither of you dead yet?"

"Well… that's a bit complicated…"

_**No it's not…**_

"_Will you shut up?" _Cloud snapped at Jenova, completely forgetting about Tifa for a second.

Tifa looked at Cloud cautiously. "Cloud… Who are you talking to? Are you alright…?"

"I… no, I don't believe I am. And the reason for that is because… Well… Who I was talking to… I was talking to Jenova."

Tifa froze. "Jenova… As in Sephiroth's mother?"

_**Oh, so she **_**doesn't **_**know… Good.**_

Cloud nodded, trying his best to ignore the voice in his head that refused to stop talking. "Yes, that Jenova."

"She's back too?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, she's still dead. I think. But her mind is still perfectly fine… more or less, of course."

_**What's that supposed to mean…?**_

Tifa looked around, worried. "So… she could be watching us right now? And how can you suddenly hear her? I thought she couldn't talk?"

"No, she can talk… a lot, unfortunately. As in, she refuses to shut up."

_**Hey…**_

"I don't know why she chose now to speak so much," Cloud continued, "but there's obviously a reason. She threatened me last night… And she hasn't shut up since."

Tifa nodded. "So _that _was why you gasped when you woke up!"

"Yeah."

"So… what about Sephiroth?"

Cloud sighed, leaning back against his chair. "That's the confusing part… Sephiroth doesn't have a single solid memory of the past. He remembers different feelings and quick, vague happenings, but that's it."

"Wait… he doesn't remember anything? That's… that's great! But then… why hasn't that damn alien mother of his told him anything yet?"

Suddenly, Cloud felt his will ripped cruelly from his grasp. Jenova must have snapped, as she was now completely in control of Cloud. This wasn't going to end well…

"Alright, listen," Jenova snarled at Tifa. Tifa looked surprised, but she could obviously tell that she was no longer talking to Cloud, as it wasn't Cloud's voice anymore. "You insult me again, girly, and… well, you don't want to insult me again. Got it?"

Tifa timidly nodded, and Jenova smiled. "Much better."

Cloud tried to get control of himself, but Jenova had too much of a grasp on him. "Cloud, stop struggling. I'll give you your body back in a moment. Now, as to why I haven't told our friend Sephy anything… Well, I don't know. I've got my own agenda at the moment, and so I'd rather leave him alone for now. Plus, if I tell him one thing, there's always the chance that he'll find out more than he should…"

Tifa shook her head. "Um, excuse me… I, uh, don't want to interrupt, but… What do you mean, 'find out more than he should'?"

"You wouldn't understand. It doesn't matter, anyways. I doubt that he'd forsake me if he simply found out more than he should know; no, I have a tight leash on him, luckily. But… Eh, I don't know. He might fight m-" Jenova froze mid-sentence. She smirked. "Never mind that… Alright, Cloud, I think I'm done here. Just know, Tifi, that if you tell Sephiroth _anything _before I'm ready for him to remember… Well, I'll kill you and everyone you care about. But I already gave this whole speech to Cloud, so let's just skip it."

Cloud gasped as soon as he realized he had control again. He put his hand on the table to keep himself from falling over.

"Cloud…?" Tifa asked. Cloud nodded.

"Yeah, it's me. ...She's more powerful than I thought…"

_**Glad you realize it.**_

Cloud shook his head. "We need to figure out what's going on here. And I mean what's _really _going on here."

Tifa tilted her head. "What's… 'really going on here'? What does that mean, exactly…? I'm just getting curious, now…"

"I don't know what it means myself. But Jenova has mentioned a few times that there is more going on than I understand… Sephiroth said something that suggested the same when I was talking to him earlier today."

"Earlier today…? I thought you were at the Forgotten City today?"

"I was…"

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "And you brought him with you? Do you know how _stupid _that was? What if he _does _remember everything, and he was there looking for the White Materia?"

"I think I would have known if he was looking for the White Materia. Besides, it sunk to the bottom of the lake, remember? Wouldn't I have seen it if it had somehow washed up on the shore one of the times that I was there?"

"I suppose… So then, that really is the truth? All of it?"

"Yeah…"

_**The perceived truth, maybe…**_

Cloud knew that Jenova wouldn't expand on her comment, so he just ignored it.

Tifa shook her head. "So why did Sephiroth lose his memory?"

"I don't know, and neither does he."

"Do you think that it has something to do with Jenova?"

_**Wow, Tiferet over there is actually smarter than I thought.**_

Cloud nodded. "Apparently so."

Tifa sighed. "But that doesn't make sense. They're turning on each other? Why? Do you think… perhaps… that there's another, higher power? One that is testing Sephiroth, to see his true loyalties? And that's why Jenova took away his memories, to see what would happen if he didn't know about her?"

**Man, **_**Tiferet is on **_**fire**_**! Hit her before I do, would you? She's figuring it out too quickly. Soon enough, she'll figure out how right **_**and **_**wrong she is! And I can't have that.**_

Cloud looked cautiously at Tifa, who shrugged. "What? If Jenova has issues with me finding out her secrets, then she shouldn't be talking at all. She's basically giving it away."

Cloud shook his head. "She wants you to stop figuring it out so quickly… Normally, I'd see how much we could figure out, but she's getting more of her power back… And I don't think we should test her. But… she _did _say that you were both wrong and right. About some things…"

Tifa sighed. "That's just not fair… I feel like I'm so close… But at least let me say one thing. What am I wrong about, and what am I right about…? Am I right about Sephiroth being tested? But wrong about the higher power? Or, perhaps, wrong about that they are turning on one another?"

_**I don't think I should answer that… Tell Tiferet to shut up, will you?**_

Cloud nodded. "Yes, _Tifa. _Jenova basically just suggested that you were right about your inquiries… But I don't know which of them are right. If not all of them."

"Why'd you hit my name…?"

"Because Jenova seems to think your name is Tiferet, for some reason…"

_**It's not? Huh. I like mine better than hers.**_

Tifa shook her head. "Never mind that. We need to figure this out…"

"I don't think we do. Not for now, at least. Although Jenova seems to actually be pushing us forward through these epiphanies, I do believe that she is serious when she says that she'll kill us. If you're right about this 'higher power', I have a feeling that it won't want us to find out about it."

Tifa sighed. "I feel like a hostage, not being able to do anything without fear of death and all."

"I know. So do I. But we can't do anything about it; not yet, anyways. We'll figure out what to do, eventually. But for now, we might as well just continue on like we have been doing. I'll make sure that Sephiroth really _doesn't _remember anything, and you'll try and figure out what's going on while Jenova isn't watching you. I mean, uh, take care of the bar."

Tifa smiled slightly. "Right. Of course."

Cloud sighed. "So… shall we get some rest?"

Tifa nodded. "Definitely. I need to think on all of this…"

Cloud nodded once, and quickly stood up. He then led Tifa upstairs, not even noticing that Marlene's shadow was peeking out from behind the bar, just like it had been for the entire conversation.


	7. Daylight Phantom

_**Daylight Phantom**_

Marlene waited for at least an hour before she finally stood up. She wanted to make sure that she was the only one awake…

Why hadn't Cloud told her? After all, _she_ had been the one that had been captured by Kadaj and those other silver-haired freaks almost three years ago. She didn't want that to happen again…

If Sephiroth was back, then perhaps Kadaj was, too. Marlene didn't want that… She didn't want to get captured again… Especially not by some silver-haired teenager. Now that she was nearly eleven, she was much more aware of the situation she had been in, though…

Marlene walked up the stairs as quietly as she could. She went to the staircase that led up to the roof, quickly climbing up it. She always went up to the roof when she wanted to think about something…

As Marlene almost made it up to the roof, she realized that something wasn't right; someone was watching her. She heard something or someone, but there was nobody there once she got up to the roof itself. She wasn't sure who it had been, and she wasn't sure where they were now. But she knew that they had been there. Actually… she was fairly certain that they were still there, somewhere.

"Hello…?" she called out. "Is… is someone there?"

No answer. Not that she was actually expecting an answer, of course.

Marlene sighed and sat down, looking out over Edge. What was she going to do…? She wanted to help Cloud, but she wasn't sure how she _could_ help. And she also wanted to tell Denzel about what she had overheard, but she didn't want him to get hurt…

Oh… why did she always get involved in this? She didn't want to get involved… but she also didn't want to be left out. She wanted to know what was happening, so that she could at least _try_ to protect the people she cared about.

Why did evil continue to exist in this world? Why did Sephiroth keep on coming back? Even without his memories, Marlene knew that Sephiroth's true heart and soul would never change. Even if he never found out about this 'Jenova', he would obviously just go back to being the devil incarnate, just as Marlene had come to understand he was. Someone like that could never change. It didn't matter what Marlene believed in, or how much she felt that anyone could change their ways; Sephiroth was evil, and that was that.

Marlene still couldn't help but feel that she was being watched. She had always been more sensitive than other people she knew when it came to the energy of others. She had once talked to Aerith, so long ago when the Cetra was still alive, and she still remembered the basics of what Aerith had said to her. What had she called Marlene, again? Oh yeah: an empath. A person who could sense the energy of others. Someone who could feel what others were feeling. Aerith had said that it was a rare, but that it was possible for a human to have the ability.

Marlene had never tried to sense the emotions of others, and she wasn't sure that she really wanted to. She didn't even want to really feel the energy of others, although that ability had come in handy quite often. Especially right now…

"Who is there…? If it's Sephiroth… I know that you haven't changed. Cloud told me… he told me what you would say to him whenever the two of you would speak… Someone like that can't change. Whether you remember your past or not… you're still who you've always been. You can't change that… and I doubt that you want to. Why… why don't you just tell Cloud the truth?"

Again, no answer. But Marlene did feel the energy shift slightly. Her words had evoked some feelings in whoever she was talking to… Perhaps this _was_ Sephiroth? Or maybe even Jenova, whoever that really was? Or was it even Kadaj? It had to be one of them…

Marlene shook her head. "Oh, Aerith… Why can't you still be alive? Why can't you be here to help me? And Cloud… he needs your help most of all…"

Marlene sighed unhappily, standing up and starting to walk back inside. However, before she could, she noticed something on the floor. Upon closer inspection, she realized what it was: a feather. A single black feather.

Marlene shook her head and calmly walked inside, fairly certain that she had just barely escaped a situation that could have easily ended with her death.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

The next morning, Tifa sighed as she woke up before the others. Cloud was still sound asleep, which was understandable. Hopefully, he wasn't having another dream with Jenova in it…

"Oh, Cloud…" Tifa muttered, walking over to him. "Why do you think you're alone…? You should know that we're here for you…"

Tifa smiled slightly, brushing some of his hair out of his face. "And… I know that Reno wasn't lying. About how you feel about me… I wish _I _could get up the courage to tell_ you_ how I really feel…"

Tifa sighed, shaking her head. She got dressed in her day clothes and walked out of the room. Marlene was standing there, waiting for her. She was already dressed in a white shirt and jeans, so she must have been up for a while. She had a sly smile on her face.

"I _knew _you liked him…"

Tifa smiled slightly. "Shh. Don't tell him that, alright?"

"But… why not?"

"I don't know… I guess I'm just not ready for him to know that."

Marlene nodded. "Alright. I won't tell him."

"Promise?"

Marlene smiled. "Promise. You know, though… You may want to be more careful with… secrets."

Tifa paused. "What's that supposed to mean…?" Marlene didn't know about Sephiroth… right?

"Oh… never mind. Um… Can I help you today? With the bar?"

"Oh, uh, sure… Does Denzel want to help?"

Marlene shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. He's still asleep, I think."

"Nah, I'm not asleep."

Tifa and Marlene looked over at Denzel. The recently-turned-thirteen-year-old had obviously just gotten out of bed, as his brown hair was more tussled than normal. He was dressed in a grey shirt and jeans, though, so he had been up for at least a few minutes.

Tifa paused. "Did you hear any of that?"

Marlene shook her head. "No, he didn't."

Denzel paused. "How… how do you know that, exactly?"

Marlene froze. "I… I don't know… I just _did._"

Tifa sighed. "Hmm… Oh, never mind. We should open up for the day… Cloud should be up soon…"

Marlene giggled. "Oh, yes, Cloud… Denzel, I'll tell you everything, okay?"

Denzel had quite a dubious expression on his face, which just made Marlene giggle again. She then led her friend downstairs, leaving Tifa to follow.

"Hey…" Cloud said, walking out of the bedroom. Tifa froze. "What was that all about…?"

Tifa shook her head. "Oh, um, nothing. Marlene just wanted to tell Denzel something, but… I don't really know what."

Cloud shrugged. "Alright. Are they going to help you today?"

Tifa nodded. "Mm-hmm. Marlene has had quite the energy lately… I guess it's understandable. She turns eleven… Oh. Today…"

Cloud sighed. "I can't believe I forgot…"

"I think she did, too."

"Yeah… Ugh, I want to stay home, but… I'll try my absolute hardest to get home early, alright?"

Tifa nodded. "Alright… don't do anything too dangerous, okay? If he remembers, I don't want you to get hurt…"

"Right… But I think that we're alright. Remember, Jenova basically just told us that she was the one who took his memories, so that has to mean something, right?" Cloud smiled slightly. "I wonder if she's gone… Hopefully, she'll leave us alone for a while…"

"She hasn't said anything to you today?"

"Nothing since last night… I don't know. That could be good, and it could be bad. So…"

"Exactly. I wonder how long things are going to continue like this…? With Sephiroth and everything, I mean."

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. I'm assuming that it will be a while before anything important happens, though. I wouldn't be surprised if it took a few years for anything to happen…" Cloud paused. "I just realized that I'm technically older than Sephiroth now. Weird. I used to be, like, nine years younger than him, and now I'm probably technically a year or two older…"

Cloud sighed, exasperated. "Alright, she's not leaving me alone…"

"Who? Jenova?"

Cloud nodded.

Tifa shook her head unhappily. "What did she say?"

"She said something about someone called Anakin? And Padma, or Padmé, or something like that. I don't know what that even means. Oh, apparently it's from another world… Alright, she said that she'd leave me alone, but I don't trust her…"

Tifa nodded. "Probably a good thing… How does she even know about 'other worlds', anyways?"

"The Lifestream. I remember her saying that yesterday, that the Lifestream contained knowledge from other worlds as well as this one."

"Huh… Oh well, we might as well just continue on with the day, right? And even if Jenova _is_ watching you, she can't see me, right? Because I don't have Jenova cells, so her mind can't follow me."

Cloud nodded. "Right. So… good luck today."

"Yeah… you too…"

Cloud and Tifa walked downstairs. Marlene was talking to Denzel, but she stopped as soon as she saw Cloud and Tifa. Tifa smiled slightly, and opened the front door for Cloud, who walked over to his bike. He then leapt on it and took off, probably towards wherever Sephiroth was. But… it looked like he was heading towards Midgar. How ironic was that…?

Tifa turned the sign on the front of the bar to say 'open', and she walked over to Marlene and Denzel.

Denzel couldn't help but smile. "I _knew _it. I _knew _you guys liked each other."

Tifa sighed. "It's a bit more complicated than that, but…"

Marlene shook her head. "You're thinking about it too much, Tifa. It's not really as complicated as it seems. You like him, he likes you. Simple as that."

Tifa shook her head. "How do you know that he likes me?"

"I… don't know." Marlene paused. "How did I know that…?" She looked like she wanted to say something, but yet didn't want to all at the same time. Tifa had never known Marlene to keep secrets…

Tifa sighed. "Oh, by the way… Happy Birthday, Marlene."

Marlene smiled. "Oh _yeah! _Thanks! But I don't really care about being eleven. I can't wait to be Denzel's age… That's when people will start taking me more seriously."

Tifa shook her head. "What do you mean? We take you seriously."

"Yeah, but… you still keep secrets from me."

Tifa froze. She _did _know, didn't she…? "Marlene, I…"

Marlene smiled slightly. "Don't worry. I understand why."

Denzel sighed. "I don't know anything either… I just know that there is something going on…"

Tifa nodded. "There is. But don't worry; it's nothing that Cloud and I can't handle."

Marlene sighed. It was obvious that she didn't believe her. But how could she possibly know…?

Tifa noticed for the first time that people were starting to come into the bar. Marlene noticed it too, but… she was acting strangely.

"Marlene… are you alright?"

Marlene looked around at all of the people. Most of them were regulars, but there were also a few people that Tifa rarely saw. There were also one or two people that Tifa had never seen before, but she always liked getting new customers.

Marlene nodded. "Yeah… I think. There's something… strange. I don't know what, but…" Marlene shook her head, smiling. "Never mind. Let's start working, alright?"

Tifa smiled slightly. "Yes ma'am. Alright, Denzel, can you go around and see if anyone wants anything to drink? Marlene, you should probably go around and just talk to people… you know, see how they are, and stuff."

Marlene and Denzel nodded, and quickly did as they were told. Denzel came back quickly enough, telling Tifa everything that everyone wanted. Marlene was sitting down at a table and in a discussion with one of the people who Tifa had never seen before. It was some woman, and she and Marlene seemed to have quite the conversation going. Tifa couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew that Marlene was definitely mature enough to handle herself.

The woman that Marlene was talking to didn't look out of the ordinary. She was tall and slender, with pale skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. But Tifa didn't know how Marlene could be getting into such a conversation with someone she didn't know…

Tifa started getting all of the drinks ready. She went around, serving everyone that had wanted anything and collecting the gil. She tried to hear what Marlene was talking about, but she was talking too quietly for Tifa to hear over the rest of the conversations going on in the room. What could they possibly be talking about, when Marlene didn't even know this woman…?

"-n't have to tell you that. You know, don't you?" Tifa was able to hear the woman saying. Why did she know that voice…? Perhaps she _did _know this person. That would make sense, as Marlene would probably know her as well. That could be how they were keeping the conversation going. Perhaps it was even someone from Marlene's past, like someone who had used to live in Corel before it had been destroyed.

Marlene nodded, but again, Tifa couldn't hear what she said after that. Why couldn't the other people be quiet for a moment?

Not wanting to draw attention to herself, Tifa went back to work. Marlene never once went to a different person, so this had to be someone from her past. But who? A friend of Barret's, perhaps?

Marlene got mad at one point, which was the only other time Tifa was able to hear any part of the conversation.

As Tifa was refilling the drink of the person right next to where Marlene and the woman were, the woman said something that Marlene obviously didn't agree with.

"No, he's not! How can you treat him like that?" Marlene snapped at the woman, who only smiled.

"I thought you didn't care about him?"

"It doesn't matter how _I _feel about him! Or anyone else, for that matter! You should know that! I know that you do…"

The woman paused for a moment. She smiled, then, although her expression held a trace of sadness that obviously surprised Marlene. "Maybe I do… But it doesn't matter how I feel. It never has, although I was blind and did not to see it at first." The woman leaned in and said something that Tifa couldn't hear. Whatever it was, though, surprised Marlene far more than Tifa would have thought.

Marlene took a shaky breath. "That… that doesn't change anything. It may not have been your choice _entirely,_ but that doesn't change the fact that you-"

"Excuse me?" another person said, drawing Tifa's attention.

_Damn it… _Tifa muttered in her mind. She had wanted to hear what Marlene was going to say, but that was no longer possible.

Tifa smiled at the person who had called to her. It was one of the regulars, asking for a refill. Tifa reluctantly continued with her daily business, trying her hardest to figure out what was going on in Marlene's conversation. Marlene seemed quite serious and even angry at some times, but she also seemed incredibly cautious. What were they talking about?

From the snippet of conversation Tifa had heard, she assumed that it had something to do with the woman's family, or perhaps even her subordinate or superior somehow. Tifa could actually think of a million different things that they could be speaking about, but she couldn't be sure about any of them.

Tifa sighed, pacing around behind the counter. Denzel, who was sitting down as neither of them had anything to do at the moment, shook his head. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I guess… It's just that… What is Marlene talking to that woman about?"

"I don't know… Why don't you go ask her?"

"Not until the woman is gone, thank you very much. I don't want them to think that I'm stalking them… Have you ever seen her before, though?"

"Yes, I've seen Marlene before."

Tifa smirked. "You know which one I meant."

Denzel sighed, shaking his head. "No, I haven't seen that woman before. Sorry."

"It's fine… I just know that I've heard her voice before. But I don't remember seeing her. I don't know… maybe she's been here before?"

Tifa thought for a moment. She had heard that voice before... But where? Wait a minute... Now she was starting to remember. She was almost certain that she had heard that voice in... the Lifestream? Yes, the Lifestream. Back when Sephiroth had attempted to summon Meteor, Tifa remembered hearing that voice faintly when she had gone into the Lifestream to save Cloud that one time. But... was that possible?

"Yeah, maybe… Hey, Tifa?"

"Huh?"

"The woman is leaving."

Tifa looked over at Marlene and saw that, sure enough, the woman had just walked out the door. Tifa calmly walked over to Marlene, although her heart was telling her to run to her. "Who _was_ that?"

Marlene slipped her right hand into her pocket, which Tifa found a bit odd. Did she have something in her pocket, or was she doing that just because?

Marlene looked up at Tifa with a look of hidden knowledge in her eyes. "That was…" Marlene smiled, "…a friend."

She then walked away and went back to her regular duties, leaving Tifa with many more questions than answers.


	8. Nothing Shall Forestall His Return

**A/N: Hello to all! Before we start with this chapter, I want to say THANK YOU for such positive feedback so far! I know that there are very few reviews at this point, but the fact that they've all been positive at this point makes me feel great. I mean, I update every day, and I already have people telling me to update faster! It's great to know that people like my writing, so… thanks for that! And a bit of a note on the story… since Jenova's character drifts in-between worlds, I'm going to mention something about Square and how, like, in this storyline, they have something that enables them to realistically render stuff that **_**actually**_** happens in Gaia… Okay, anyways, I've wasted enough of your Time. It's storytime… *Plays Nightwish and begins* (had to…).**

* * *

_**Nothing Shall Forestall His Return…**_

Cloud sped across the highway towards Midgar. Since only members of the WRO could use it, he was the only one there.

Cloud sighed. "Hey, Jenova…"

_**Mmm? Wait… you're talking to me? That's a first…**_

"Don't be so surprised. I just want to know something…"

_**Yes?**_

"The White Materia… Do you know what happened to it?"

_**Nope. I don't know why you think I'd know. I mean, it's not like I saw where it went or anything. Or that I knew what actually happened to it. I'm going to stop talking now…**_

"You _want _me to find out, don't you…? I can tell. I have a feeling that you could be a much better liar, if you actually tried."

_**I don't know what you mean, dear puppety.**_

Cloud sighed. "Oh, never mind… At least tell me that it's safe."

_**It will be, soon. Don't worry. Besides, it wouldn't matter if it wasn't; I can't exactly **_**use**_** it at the moment…**_

Cloud nodded. "Good. So… why did you wipe Sephiroth's memory?"

_**Why do you care?**_

"I don't know…"

_**Then I won't tell you. Now, for once,**_** I**_** need **_**you **_**to shut up, okay?**_

"Gladly."

Cloud sighed as he got to Midgar. Jenova didn't say anything, so he was fairly certain that she was somewhere else at the moment. Was she talking to whatever this 'higher power' was that Tifa figured out must exist? Hopefully not, but it was definitely possible… He just hoped that Tifa, Marlene, and Denzel were okay…

It didn't take very long for Cloud to find Sephiroth, who was out in plain sight. Cloud wasn't even sure why he had come today. He didn't have anything to do… He should be home with his friends… But he was too close to the truth to stop now.

"Hey, Cloud," Sephiroth said as Cloud pulled to a stop. "I'm assuming Tifa didn't want to come?"

Cloud shook his head. "Oh, I forgot…"

"Well, you're still alive, so I'm assuming either she's fine with you helping me, or she doesn't know."

"No, she knows… But… Well, it didn't go _exactly _as planned."

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "Oh? And what happened, exactly? Did she _try _to kill you?"

"No, but someone else may have tried to. Anyways… Eh, it doesn't matter, really. I don't have anything to do today… what were you doing before I got here?"

"Nothing, actually."

"Really…? Well, then, what _are _we going to do?"

Sephiroth started to say something, but he didn't get the chance.

"Hey, Cloud! Cloud Strife!"

Cloud froze. Was that… Shelke?

Yes, sure enough, Shelke ran up to Cloud. She was dressed in completely normal clothing that would be fitting for the young girl she seemed to be, despite the fact that she was actually now a twenty-two-year-old in a perpetually young body. Even though she was wearing normal clothing, of course, she had her two electric-saber weapons strapped onto her back, just in case.

Shelke paused, seeing Sephiroth. Cloud couldn't remember whether or not she knew about him…

Cloud shook his head, having to ignore Sephiroth for a moment. Even if she didn't really know who Sephiroth was, Shelke knew about Lucrecia, so this could end badly… "Long time no see. I thought you and Vincent were helping the WRO lately? Weren't you guys out of town for the past few months?"

Shelke cautiously nodded. "Yeah… We came back to get supplies… Isn't that…?"

Cloud sighed, but nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, it's Sephiroth." So she did know… he didn't know why he had thought she didn't know…

Shelke shook her head in disbelief. "I… How… I _knew _that something felt wrong! I still have a part of Lucrecia within me… And I _thought _that I felt Sephiroth's presence. But… why…?"

Cloud shook his head, noting that Sephiroth was lost in thought and not paying attention to Shelke. "It's a… long story."

Shelke folded her arms across her chest. "I have time. We have a few days before we have to leave again, so you might want to start explaining."

Sephiroth finally spoke up. "Excuse me, but… Lucrecia? Why do I know that name…?"

_Damn it… _Cloud thought in his mind. _Jenova? Hello? Where the hell are you when I actually may need your help?_

Shelke glared at Sephiroth. "Yes, Lucrecia. Your _real _m-"

Cloud didn't have time to think, so he acted on impulse. He grabbed Shelke and put his hand over her mouth. Shelke struggled to get away, but Cloud held her in place. "Um… excuse us, Sephiroth. We'll be… right back?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Fine; keep me in the dark. I'm getting closer to the truth… I'll figure it out by myself, if I have to. Sheesh, it's like you keep on forgetting that I don't remember my past…"

"Mmn't memembem you'me mmst?" Shelke said, her voice muffled. But Cloud understood her perfectly.

"Yes. He doesn't remember his past. Come with me…" Cloud let Shelke go. She looked like she wanted desperately to stab him with her overcharged lightning rods, but she held herself in check.

Cloud walked into a nearby alley with Shelke close behind. As soon as they were sure that Sephiroth couldn't hear them, Shelke shook her head. "So, wait… What?"

Cloud shrugged. "He doesn't remember anything… Tifa and I have figured out that Jenova – yes, before you say anything, I'm talking about the alien life-form Jenova – has wiped his memory clean, apparently because she or someone else wants to test him or something. But that's all we've figured out…"

"Then… then this is perfect! We can tell him the truth about Lucrecia without fear of impalement!"

"From him, maybe. But Jenova is a different story."

Shelke narrowed her eyes. "I thought JENOVA was dead…? Didn't you, like, destroy its entire body at separate times? I may not have been there, but I still know what happened…"

"Yes, Jenova is dead. But she's like Aerith and Sephiroth; she retains enough power in death to… well, to do a lot. She can already control me from the Lifestream… who knows how much power she really has?"

Shelke paused. "You're treating JENOVA like a person…"

"Because, like it or not, she _is _an actual being. She's started talking to me… a lot. Something is happening, Shelke… And she seems to think that I'm a part of it."

"Oh… well, that's just great, now, isn't it…?" she said sarcastically. "So we can't tell the silver-haired psycho freak over there what he's done? And we can't tell him that, like it or not, his biological parents are human? If you count Hojo as a human, of course. And if we _do _tell him that, we'll… what, be killed?"

Cloud nodded. "Unfortunately, that's all true."

"Great… just great… How long has he been like that? With amnesia and everything, I mean?"

"Apparently, a few weeks. I only found out about him a few days ago, though. And honestly, I've regretted it ever since…"

Shelke sighed. "Well, that's great. Can we not just kill him…?"

"Nope. We kill him, we die."

"Ugh… Then I probably should not tell Vincent…"

Cloud nodded. He was glad that Shelke was learning to be a regular person, as it had been quite annoying when she had said Vincent's entire name and when she had spoken in a monotone…

Cloud sighed. "Oh… I don't know. You can tell Vincent, if you want. Jenova's been suggesting that there's something big going on… and something _huge _coming. A battle, I think. I don't know what we're going to do, but we'll need everyone to be prepared for whatever happens…"

"So… I wait to tell him until something starts happening?"

"That would probably be best. For all we know, it will take years for the battle or whatever to actually happen…"

Shelke nodded. "Fine; I will not say a word. But… can you promise me that you are not risking your life again? You need to know that you are not alone… we are all here to help you, Cloud."

Cloud nodded. "I know that. I'm not like I used to be; I'll know when I need help. At the moment, though, there's nothing I can't handle. It will all be fine for now… alright?"

Shelke nodded. "Alright…"

Cloud sighed. "Now, anyways… How are the WRO efforts going?"

"Pretty well. Like I said, the only reason we're back is to get supplies…

"Right. That's good, then. As long as Sephiroth doesn't go back to being… well, Sephiroth, then everything should work out just fine for you guys."

Shelke nodded. Then, a thought seemed to strike her. "Oh! I almost forgot! While Vincent and I are here, I'll need a place to stay… the WRO Headquarters are nearly rebuilt, so Vincent will be staying there. But… that place brings back too many bad memories for me."

Cloud nodded. "Oh, yeah, of course. We have a spare bedroom, so you can stay for as long as you need to. And Tifa knows, about… what's going on, so you don't need to be careful about watching what you say around her. Just around Denzel and Marlene. Alright?"

Shelke smiled slightly. "Oh, right. Of course. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you, Cloud. I really appreciate it."

"Any time. After all, you _did _help us save the world a few years ago…"

Shelke laughed slightly. "Right. Of course. So… What now?"

_**I'm baaaaack!**_

Cloud jumped at Jenova's unexpected voice, getting an odd look from Shelke. "Sorry, Shelke… Er, remember how I said Jenova's been talking to me lately?"

_**Shelke… wait a minute, isn't she the one who has Lucrecia's memories…? Oh no… You better keep her from saying anything…**_

Shelke nodded. "Yeah… She talked to you right then?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I thought she was gone… One second, Shelke. Er, Jenova… where were you…?"

_**Talking to quite the… **_**important**_** character. You can't know about that, though.**_

"Would this 'important character' happen to be your superior, whoever that is?"

_**Maybe… **_

"That seems like a yes, but I can never be sure…"

Shelke shrugged. "I hate being left out…"

Cloud shook his head. "I'm going to ignore her, now. You had been saying?"

"Er… what do we do now?"

"Right. Do you want to go back to 7th Heaven? I didn't realize how long I'd been gone… And it's Marlene's eleventh birthday, so she'll probably be happy to see you."

"Oh, it is? I wish I had known…" Then, Shelke looked as though she'd been struck by her lighting rods. "Damn it, I cannot believe I forgot!"

"Forgot…?"

Shelke's entire visage had changed instantly. She was now incredibly serious about whatever it was she had forgotten. What could be so important…? "Do you know of any SOLDIER members whose names started with 'G'?"

"Yes, a lot of them. Why?"

"He was important to Weiss… I don't remember why, though. But I know that he is probably going to have something to with this 'major battle' or whatever. Why else would Weiss have found him so important?"

Cloud shook his head. "Wait… Weiss… as in, Weiss the Immaculate?"

"Yes. Who else?"

"Just making sure…" Cloud remembered him well enough, even though he had never met him. Weiss had been the leader of the Tsviets, which was the incredibly powerful group that had led Deepground. Shelke had been a Tsviet, until her sister Shalua had brought her back to her senses. Anyways, Vincent had killed Weiss when he had attempted to take over the power of the being Omega, and Vincent, having the power of the god Chaos, had been the only one able to stop him. The Shinra scientist Hojo had apparently taken over Weiss or something like that, and that had only added to Vincent's hatred of him. Whatever had truly happened during that battle, though, Cloud was almost completely certain that Weiss and the other Tsviets, minus Shelke, were dead now. But if there was another Tsviet, or someone that Weiss saw as 'important', well… that couldn't be good…

Shelke paused. "I hate to ask, but… Does Jenova…?"

Cloud nodded. "Jenova, do y-"

_**Nope. Nuh-uh. I don't know who he is. Not at all. Heh. Hehe… Sorry, but you'll just have to figure out who Gene- 'G' is, by yourself.**_

"Yes, she knows. But she's refusing to tell me… Genna, or something."

Shelke shook her head. "That sounds so familiar, but I don't know why."

"I know… It's somewhere in my mind, but I can't seem to figure it out…"

_**You mentioned him earlier…**_

"I did…? Never mind. Ugh, I feel as though I'm so close, but… why?"

Shelke nodded. "I feel the same. I know this guy was in SOLDIER… Probably SOLDIER 1st Class, too. I know that there weren't very many of them…"

Cloud sighed. "I don't want to, but… maybe we should ask Sephiroth?"

"I thought he didn't remember anything?"

"He has subconscious memories. That may be enough…"

Shelke shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'm not asking for help from the enemy."

"Do remember that I used to be your enemy…"

"Oh yeah… that's true, isn't it? Fine, let's ask him."

_**That may not be the best idea… Sephiroth and 'G' weren't exactly friends when they last saw each other…**_

Cloud sighed. "Wait, Shelke. What do you mean, Jenova? Sephiroth never had any friends to begin with, so…"

_**Oh, you'd be surprised. In fact, they used to be quite close. Sephiroth, Angeal, and… G. Ugh, I want to say his name… Anyways, they had been great friends at one point, but when G and Angeal found out about who – or rather what – they were, they abandoned SOLDIER and, in turn, Sephy. But… Sephiroth was fine with that. At first. He wanted to leave SOLDIER just so that Shinra wouldn't send him after his old friends… But then, G descended further into himself, not caring about who his friends were. And… well, let's just say that he betrayed Sephiroth. So much so that even without his memories, Sephiroth would probably hate his old friend.**_

"Wow. Okay, then…" Cloud quickly told Shelke everything that Jenova had told him.

"Well, that's just great. Just perfect. Ugh… Then I guess we'll only find out when it's too late…"

Cloud shrugged. "Now you know how I've felt these past few days. Anyways, we might as well just drop it for now. We can mention it to Sephiroth, but nothing more. Wait a minute… She said that Sephiroth hated this guy, right?"

"Yeah, I believe that's what you told me."

"I'm remembering something just now… back at the Forgotten City, I was listing names… Ugh, I can't remember… Sephiroth said something that had made absolutely zero sense to me at the time, and now I can't even remember it. But I had noticed something… When he had said it, his voice had been incredibly flat, while he had sounded like he was joking with the other terms I'd listed. Even when I'd mentioned SOLDIER and he had remembered it being like hell, his voice had still had a playful edge to it, as he knew that he couldn't say anything with certainty because of his lack of memories. But when I mentioned one name, his entire demeanor changed. Even though he had said something that should have been meant as a joke – I think, all I remember is how random it was – his tone was suddenly flat and dripping with disdain. I hadn't paid it any attention at the time… Ugh, that was so stupid of me not to notice it at the time… Now I can't remember…"

Shelke thought for a moment. "Maybe _you _don't remember, but… Perhaps he does?"

Cloud nodded. "It's worth a shot."

Cloud cautiously led Shelke back out to where Sephiroth was still waiting. He was leaning against a wall with his eyes closed, but he stood up and looked at Shelke and Cloud as they approached.

"I thought you two had left or something…"

Cloud shook his head. "Nope. But, um, I do need to ask you something…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Ask away."

"Right, um… Yesterday, at the Forgotten City? Remember how I was listing names?"

"Yes…?"

"Do you remember what they were?"

"Of course. Lazard, SOLDIER, and… hmm… I know that last one started with a G… Gackt? Yes, I think that was it."

Jenova started laughing uncontrollably for a moment, which Cloud didn't get. _**Hah! Well, technically, according to a world that somehow knows everything that happens here, that **_**is **_**right. But, it isn't **_**actually **_**right. I don't know if those people are psychic or something, but I honestly feel a bit stalked by them… What was their name again…? Circle, triangle… Square? No, that's not it…**_

Cloud shook his head, ignoring Jenova yet again. "Are you sure that that's it? I don't think so…"

Sephiroth sighed. "Sorry, Cloud. But if that wasn't it, then I don't know what was. Why do you care all of a sudden, anyways?"

Shelke spoke up, although she was still obviously cautious. "Sorry, it was actually me who wanted to know… You see, I need to find out who he is… Ah, never mind. I'll figure it out… thanks, though."

"Yeah, sure. What's your name again…? Shelke, right?"

"Right… You heard Cloud mention it?"

Where else would he have heard it? Shelke was being far too cautious…

Sephiroth nodded, turning away. Cloud couldn't blame him; Shelke's scrutinizing stare was starting to scare Cloud a bit as well. "Yeah. When you first came over here."

"Right… Yeah, alright. Sorry for being so cautious; I'm only like that with people I don't know."

Sephiroth nodded, turning back towards her and meeting her eyes with his. Now, she was the one who looked away first. Sephiroth smiled, though. "I understand. I'd probably be like that, too, if I remembered a damn thing about my life before a few weeks ago."

_Technically, he didn't even _have _a life before a few weeks ago… _Cloud thought to himself.

Shelke sighed. "So, um… Cloud and I kind of have to go… It's our friend's birthday today…"

Sephiroth nodded. "I understand. It's actually getting a bit late already… you guys were talking for quite a while… See you later?"

Cloud nodded, motioning for Shelke to follow him over to Fenrir. "Certainly. See you later."

Cloud and Shelke leapt on Fenrir. Cloud wasn't sure how Shelke had found him in the first place, but that didn't really matter.

Cloud and Shelke sped off towards 7th Heaven, then. And it never occurred to either of them that they were being watched by someone nearby… Someone that was able to match the speed of Fenrir, only in the air. Someone that had stayed unseen, watching Cloud and Sephiroth for quite a while without them knowing it. Someone that many people thought had been dead for years.

Someone who's name started with a 'G'.


	9. Silent Spies

**A/N: I apologize for this being so late… My computer shut off and refused to turn on for a while. Also, I've been quite busy, so… I'm sorry that the beginning of this chapter is a bit slow. The beginning is mainly recaps of what's been happening, and a bit more speculation. The more action-y part isn't until the last half. So… yeah. But if you like the storyline, then you'll probably want to read the whole thing. Alright, anyways… here we go…**

* * *

_**Silent Spies**_

Shelke and Cloud pulled to a stop in front of 7th Heaven. They both leapt off of Fenrir and walked inside, noticing that it was much later than they had thought and that Tifa had already closed up for the day. How long had they been gone…?

Shelke and Cloud walked inside, where Marlene, Tifa, and Denzel were all cleaning up after the day. By the looks of it, they had just finished.

"Cloud!" Tifa said as soon as she saw him. Just by her tone, Shelke could tell that she wanted desperately to tell him something. Then, though, she saw Shelke. "Oh, Shelke! I thought you were helping the WRO…? Where's Vincent?"

Shelke sighed, a bit annoyed as she wanted to talk to Tifa about what was going on. "We've been through this… Ah, never mind. Hello Tifa, Marlene, Denzel. It is great to see you all. Oh, happy birthday, Marlene!"

Marlene grinned. "Thanks!"

Shelke nodded. "As to my reason for being here… The WRO and I have come back to Edge for supplies. We'll be here for a few days… Cloud said it was alright if I stayed with you guys…? Vincent's staying at the WRO Headquarters, but…"

Shelke trailed off, remembering everything that had happened there…

Tifa nodded. "Yes! Of course! You can stay as long as you need to."

Marlene clapped her hands together. "Shelke's staying with us? Yes!"

Shelke smiled at Marlene. She noticed for the first time, though, that the girl was wearing a satchel… Had she truly grown so mature in the time that Shelke had been gone? Not that she hadn't been much more mature than others her age, of course, but still…

Tifa, then, looked cautiously at Shelke. "So… how did you find Cloud, exactly? I mean, this is such a big city and all. And it's changed since you've been here last… Have you _learned anything new_?"

Shelke realized exactly what Tifa was trying to say; she wanted to know whether or not Shelke knew about Sephiroth. Why was she talking so cautiously…?

_Oh. Of course. They must not have told Marlene and Denzel… _Shelke thought, sighing. But she smiled at Tifa, although the expression was nothing more than a fake mask to hide her true feelings of increasing hopelessness. "Yes, Tifa. I have learned some… new things… Heh, this city is indeed much more complicated than the last time I was here; that's for sure."

Tifa nodded. "Just checking. So…" She looked over at Marlene and Denzel. "I believe it's time for bed for the birthday girl and her friend."

Marlene pouted. "But it's only…" She looked over at the clock. "It's only eleven thirty! That's not late!"

Shelke and Cloud both immediately looked at one another. Eleven thirty? Yes, sure enough, that was what the clock said. Shelke was fairly certain that it hadn't been so long… Had it?

Cloud took in a deep breath, and then walked over to Marlene and Denzel. "Come on, guys. I'll take you upstairs. Tifa, Shelke… I'll be right back. Don't say anything world-changing until I get back, alright?"

Shelke, Cloud, and Tifa all laughed, even though it was fake laughter. Hopefully, though, Marlene and Denzel couldn't tell.

Cloud, Marlene, and Denzel all walked upstairs. Tifa's expression instantly changed to a much more serious look, as did Shelke's. Tifa shook her head. "So, you know, then. About him?"

"The one-winged bastard from hell that has amnesia? Yes, I know about him. I mean, I've never met him before, but from what Cloud has told me…"

Tifa nodded. "Your title fits him well…. We should wait for Cloud before discussing this, though."

Shelke sighed. "Right… So… What's new?"

"Ah, nothing much."

Shelke smiled slyly. "So… have you and Cloud… you know… er, _gotten together _yet?"

Tifa looked stunned, but she smiled. "Oh, no. No, we're not together."

Shelke grinned. "Yes! Nanaki and Yuffie owe me twenty Gil! Hah!"

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "Is _everyone _betting on whether or not Cloud and I become a couple?"

Shelke nodded. "Basically. I don't know who else has, but everyone I know besides you and Cloud have all started placing bets… I mean, come on. It's obvious how crazy he is about you…"

Tifa shrugged, smiling gently. "Perhaps. But he isn't showing that side of him to me… He's shy around me, yes, but that's it. And I don't think I could honestly tell him how I feel either…" Tifa shook her head. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Because I was bored? And we're waiting for Cloud."

As if on cue, Cloud came downstairs right then. "Well, wait no longer."

Tifa froze. "Did… did you hear any of that…?"

"Nope. Why?"

Tifa sighed with relief. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. So, um… what were we here to talk about again?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. You sounded like you wanted to say something…"

Shelke nodded. "I need to say something, too, but it can wait."

Tifa sighed. "Alright, um… Well, today, there was this woman here… She looked incredibly normal, but that's beside the point. Anyways, she was talking to Marlene for quite awhile. When they were done talking, she left."

Cloud shook his head. "So? Marlene's naturally very talkative… She always has been."

"Well yes, but… It was as though they knew each other from somewhere. Marlene got mad a few times, but for the duration of the conversation, she actually seemed a bit intimidated by this person. And you know Marlene; she doesn't get intimidated by very many people. In the end, though, when I asked Marlene who the woman had been, all she had said was that it was 'a friend.' I was thinking maybe someone Barret knew, but…"

Cloud paused for a moment. "What did the woman look like?"

"She had brown hair and brown eyes. She also had pale skin, but not unnaturally pale like Sephiroth's. She was tall and pretty slender. I don't remember anyone like that…"

Cloud shook his head. "Hmm… You know who that actually sounds like? Ifalna, in a sense. Remember, Aerith's mother? If I'm remembering what Elmyra told me about her encounter with Ifalna and Aerith that one night… So perhaps it was a Cetra from the Lifestream? That could be why Marlene found her to be a friend…"

Tifa looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded. "Perhaps. Although I hate to ask, does Jenova know of any Cetra that can come back to the Planet for more than a few minutes?"

Cloud nodded, but he shook his head almost instantly. "She said it's definitely possible, but she thinks that she would have probably known if any had come back today, even if it was only for a few hours… Wait… Oh yes, I forgot about that, thank you very much. She was actually gone for quite awhile. She was talking to her superior, even though she denies it. So it would actually be quite possible for a Cetra to have come back in the time she was gone."

Shelke shook her head. "So _that_ was why you jumped when she spoke to you; because she was gone for a few hours. Who _is _her superior, anyways? If she's been talking to him – or her – for this entire day, then there's something serious going on…"

Cloud nodded. "That's what I'm worried about. There's something important going on… so important, apparently, that someone had to come back from the dead to talk to Marlene. And… wait, Tifa. Marlene hasn't told you what happened? Or what this person – the Ancient, I'm assuming – said?"

Tifa shook her head. "No. She refuses to tell me. She says, though, that I have no need to worry about the woman, and that this woman was simply 'trying to give the 'good' side a better chance', or whatever."

Cloud shook his head. "Jenova, why are you laughing…? Alright, that's it. I'm getting sick of you. We _do _have a chance, alright?"

Shelke nodded. "Yes, we do. When this battle or whatever comes around, we'll be ready. We _will _protect our world."

Tifa shrugged. "But… what if Sephiroth remembers by then?"

Cloud smirked. "Easy. I'll kill him before he kills me. Yes I will, Jenova."

Tifa smiled. "Let's hope you can… didn't you say that he's more powerful every time he comes back? And that, last time, he had more than enough power to have beaten you, he just didn't use it?"

Cloud sighed. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence there, Tifa."

Shelke nodded. "That reminds me. Tifa, do you know of any SOLDIER 1st Class members?"

"Besides Sephiroth and Zack? No, I'm sorry. I don't think I should, anyways…"

Shelke shrugged. "I'm just trying to figure out who this 'G' person is… Weiss mentioned him, and I have a feeling that he has a large part in everything that's happening. Perhaps… Perhaps he's Jenova's leader? And that's why she wouldn't tell us about him?"

Cloud shook his head. "No. But… We _do _need to find out who all of these people are. Also… I have a feeling that Jenova _is _in league with G, because I should know who this guy is, but yet as soon as I almost remember, my mind fogs up and I forget again. Only Jenova can do that…"

Shelke nodded. "Yeah. Hopefully, though, this guy won't be able to keep himself from showing up for much longer."

Tifa shrugged. "Hopefully. But, then again… If this guy's powerful, maybe we _don't _want him finding us."

Cloud shook his head. "We need to get rid of any threats to the Planet. It doesn't matter how powerful they are; we _will _stop them. If we have more Cetra than Aerith on our side, we're better off than I thought. Thanks to Marlene's little conversation, I think that that may be the case. I-"

Cloud froze. "Wait… something's not right… Do you guys feel that?"

Tifa paused. "Feel…?"

Cloud looked distraught. "I don't… I don't _know. _I had felt it the past few nights, but never as strongly as this… I don't really know how to describe it… I'd say it felt like Sephiroth, or even Jenova, but… it's… different? Ugh, I don't get it! What the hell…? You're no help, Jenova…"

Shelke looked around. There was nobody else there; at least, nobody that she could _see. _But something _was _off. She'd felt it as soon as she had entered the building. At first, it had been a feeling of light. Now, though… What was going on?

Cloud smirked. "Fine. Take your time. We don't care."

Tifa shook her head. "What now?"

Cloud shrugged. "Jenova… well, I don't know, really. But she spooked and said she had to 'be right back', for some reason."

If Jenova figured something was wrong… Then there _had _to be something going on.

Shelke thought she heard something, but she wasn't sure why or where.

Cloud shrugged. "Maybe we should ju-"

"Shut up for a second," Shelke said, trying her hardest to listen. Cloud looked a bit hurt and surprised, and Tifa just simply looked surprised, but Shelke didn't care. She needed to just listen for a moment…

Everything was silent. Shelke even completely turned off her lightning sabers so that she could listen to the silence around her and her friends. Then, she saw something unexpected; something that gave her chills.

Outside of the windows, standing in complete silence in the darkness of night, was a figure wrapped in a cloak. Whoever or whatever it was was watching all of them very closely; and Shelke got the feeling that that was _not_ something she wanted.

Shelke whipped out her sabers, turning them on and rushing outside. Cloud and Tifa looked too stunned to follow at first, and Shelke wasn't even entirely sure that they knew what had caught her attention. But they decided to help her anyways.

Shelke looked around. Because of the experiments done to her, she could see better than most humans in the darkness. So she knew that she hadn't imagined the being outside the window.

Sure enough, Shelke heard someone behind her. Since Cloud and Tifa hadn't made it outside yet, this had to be the person that had been watching them. She whipped around with both sabers, intending to, if nothing else, stun this silent spy. But nothing ever went her way…

The person behind her simply held up one arm, catching both of Shelke's sabers. The strike should have knocked any normal person unconscious, but this guy didn't even seem fazed.

Shelke couldn't see this person's appearance because of the cloak they were wearing, but she didn't need to see what they looked like in order to know that they were an enemy.

Shelke pulled her sabers back and tried to strike again, but the person was gone. Then, she realized that the person was behind her again. She whipped around, hoping to catch the person off-guard, but they simply moved around Shelke's strike. Who was this?

Shelke wondered if this could possibly be Sephiroth. But no, this person was taller than Sephiroth. And, Sephiroth didn't know anything, so that took him out of the equation. But who was this? G, perhaps? If so, then she was in serious trouble…

But, having been trained as a Tsviet, she had come to believe that there was very little she couldn't handle. She certainly wouldn't be defeated by this unknown stalker…

Cloud already had one of the Fusion Swords out and was ready to fight. Tifa was standing next to him, prepared to defend herself.

The person rushed right past Shelke, striking with blinding speed. Cloud and Tifa didn't even have time to think as they were thrown backwards through the door into 7th Heaven. This person obviously wanted to finish his battle with Shelke. But was he truly so confident as to feel as though he was in no danger? That he was safe enough to finish off Shelke, who had started the fight? Arrogant bastard…

Shelke continually rushed at her adversary, but to no avail. Eventually, he seemed to become bored with dodging and blocking Shelke's maneuvers. He motioned up at a nearby building, and another person leapt down. They were in a cloak as well. What was with the need for secrecy?

Whoever this newcomer was, they had no issue with going on the offensive. And they were unnaturally fast, too. This person had two solid black katanas that they used with such grace and speed. Just because of the way this person moved, Shelke knew this had to be a woman.

Shelke could barely block herself to save her life. But eventually, the woman hit Shelke hard enough to throw her to the ground. Shelke's sabers flew to the side, so she couldn't fight back. And Cloud and Tifa seemed to be trapped inside 7th Heaven, so they were no help.

Shelke tried to get up, but the woman laughed. "Know when you've been beaten, alright? You'll survive much longer that way."

Shelke glared up at the hooded figure above her. She didn't know the voice, but Cloud seemed to. So did Tifa, as they were both staring in terror at the person.

"Damn it, Shelke!" Cloud shouted, his voice muffled. "Get out of there! Now!"

Shelke shook her head. "It's not in my being to step down from a fight… Sorry, Cloud."

Shelke shakily stood up. "I don't know who the hell you people are, but I'm _not _backing down."

The woman shrugged. "Suit yourself. Do you even know who I am? No, of course not. I forgot that you don't know me… Sort of…"

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

The woman held up her hand. "We'll have time for that later. For now…"

But Shelke knew who the main enemy was here. She ignored the woman and rushed right at the other figure, whose back was turned.

The unknown figure, even with his back turned, simply held up his hand. Within the next half-second, Shelke had been blasted with the most powerful energy blast she had ever felt. It felt like she had been blasted by the full force of her sabers, times ten.

Shelke was thrown into a nearby wall. She fell to the ground on her knees, unable to stand up. She was only still conscious because of all of her training and because of her enhanced skills.

The woman walked up to Shelke, and Shelke feared for her life for one of the first times. These two could easily kill her; that was something she knew for certain. But the woman merely laughed. "Oh, I would _love _to kill you right now. But no; we'll both have to wait to finish this confrontation a bit later. For now, we must be off. But you'll certainly hear from me soon!"

Without another word, both cloaked figures leapt into the night, leaving a dazed Shelke to collect her strength and make her way back into the now-accessible 7th Heaven.

Shelke collapsed into a chair. Tifa locked the door and sat down across from her, as did Cloud.

Shelke finally sighed and shook her head. "So who _was_ that? Who could have possibly beaten me? Besides Vincent, nobody should be able to defeat me…"

Cloud shook his head. "You just don't get it, do you? This is no time to be joking. You don't understand how perilous that situation was. You could have easily been killed."

"Why? Who was that?"

Cloud looked at Tifa, obviously uncertain that he should be saying what he wanted to. Tifa shrugged. "I don't know who the first guy was, but… the woman…" She shook her head, just as distraught as Cloud.

Cloud nodded, looking at Shelke with worry in his eyes. "Shelke, you… you were just facing Jenova."


	10. Innocent Secrets

**A/N: Alright, just saying, I was originally going to drag out the first 'part' of this story for as long as I could, but I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm going to start speeding things up after this chapter, okay? And this is a quick-y chapter, just basically aftermath of the last one. Just a note… Oh, and thanks again to the reviewers!**

* * *

_**Innocent Secrets**_

Cloud sighed at his friend's obvious dismay. His feelings weren't much different, really. Of course, he wasn't the one that had just nearly escaped being killed by Jenova and some other guy…

Cloud had recognized Jenova's voice the second he had heard it. But… that meant she was alive, then. If nothing else, she had found a body to exist in. And that wasn't good. That _did, _however, explain why her voice had been more prominent lately.

Shelke shook her head. "You're joking, right? This… this cannot be true… I thought she was dead?"

Cloud nodded. "So did we. But I guess not. If nothing else, she's powerful enough to completely control someone. But… I'm pretty sure that she wasn't controlling some random person. So the only other option would be that she's back… But I still don't get it. How can her appearance be so human? Or, at least, the outline of her appearance?"

Tifa sighed. "I don't know. What I think is even more important is that we still have no idea who the other person was."

Shelke thought for a moment. "I'd say G, but… even an enhanced SOLDIER 1st Class wouldn't have power like that – excluding Sephiroth, of course. The only other person I can think of is Jenova's leader, whoever that is. Right?"

Cloud nodded. "Right. That must be it. But why is this person watching us himself? Shouldn't he be sending someone else out?"

Tifa shrugged. "Maybe he's bored? I don't know, but there's obviously _something _going on that we don't understand. And we need to figure out what it is. Fast."

Cloud nodded again. "Definitely. But I-"

_**Heeeeey! Miss me?**_

Cloud couldn't hide his surprise. "_Oh, _look who's back. No, we didn't miss you. Why would we, when you nearly _killed _Shelke?"

_**Well, that's not my fault, now, is it? She needs to step up her game if she expects to survive all of this.**_

Shelke narrowed her eyes. "She's back? This is the one and only time I wish I could hear her. I would _love _to say a few choice words to her."

Cloud shook his head. "Tell me something while my urge to kill you is at bay, would you? When the hell did you get a body?"

_**Yesterday. **_

"Yesterday? That explains why you could control me…"

_**Uh-huh. Oh, by the way, you might be interested to know that the Lifestream is messed up lately…**_

Cloud shook his head. Tifa and Shelke were silent, waiting for him to tell them what was happening. "What do you mean that the Lifestream is 'messed up'? How? And why are you saying this so suddenly?"

Tifa and Shelke froze. They obviously were worried about what this could mean.

_**Ah, it's just a bit of information for nearly killing you all. Because of everything that has happened within the last… ten years? Yeah, about. Anyways, because of everything that's happened, the barriers between the Lifestream and the Planet diminish to nearly nothing every now and then. Do you get why I'm telling you this?**_

Cloud nodded. "The Cetra. So it _would _be possible for one to have come back, then."

_**Yes. Entirely. As to how she was helping give you pathetic losers a better chance… Well, I have no idea. The only thing that could even slightly raise your chances of winning would be the White Materia, and, well, I know **_**exactly **_**where it is right now. And nobody has stolen it so far, so it's not that. Perhaps she was telling you guys that you're not alone; I don't really know, and I honestly couldn't care less.**_

Cloud thought for a moment. "Hmm… I wonder… Could Aerith possibly come back?"

_**I'm not going to say. That girl is a… **_**special **_**case. As is that friend of hers… Zack, I believe. Whether they can come back or not is not something I can tell you, because I myself do not know.**_

Tifa shook her head. "Aerith may be able to come back?"

Cloud nodded. "Zack's still there, too. But they're 'special' in some way, so they may not be able to come back. However, if we have other Cetra on our side…"

Shelke shook her head. "If they cannot come back by themselves, then we'll help. Perhaps that's what the Cetra told Marlene, then; that we may be able to bring them back."

As if on cue, Marlene ran downstairs right then. "Cloud! Shelke! Tifa! Are you all alright?"

Marlene was still completely dressed; she hadn't even taken her satchel off yet. In other words, she hadn't gone to bed. She had probably seen everything that had just happened.

Marlene ran over to Cloud, hugging him. She quickly pulled away, looking up at him with tears in her brown eyes. "I - I saw everything… I went up to the roof for a minute, and right then, I saw Shelke run outside and start fighting with those two people… I was so scared…"

Cloud shook his head. "It's alright, Marlene. We're all fine. Are _you _alright? What were you doing up on the roof?"

Marlene shook her head. "I… Well, um, I kind of was trying to make sure that you guys weren't, uh, being spied on? I had heard someone up there yesterday… I even went up to check, but found nobody. So I went up there again, and then I saw what was happening."

Shelke paused. "Did you see where they went? After they left?"

"No, I'm sorry… I ran down here to see if you guys were okay…"

Tifa nodded. "Thank you for being worried about us, Marlene. But there's nothing you need to fear. Those were just… Well, we don't know for sure, but there's no reason to worry. Okay? Any people that could possibly be real threats to us are gone for good. You know that, right?"

Marlene paused, but then nodded. "Right."

Tifa smiled. "Then there's nothing you need to worry about, okay? You should just get some sleep… You shouldn't be up this late."

Marlene sighed, but nodded. "Alright. Just… be careful, alright?"

Cloud nodded. "We will be."

Marlene sighed and started to walk away.

_**Forgetting to ask something?**_

Cloud jumped. "Oh, Marlene, I forgot to ask. And this is important, okay?"

Marlene paused, not turning around. "Yeah?"

Shelke looked questioningly at Cloud, as if telling him to be careful with what he said. But Cloud knew that they wouldn't get any farther without Marlene's help. "The Cetra. May I ask what she said?"

"Cetra…?" Marlene moved her hand to touch just below her chest for some reason, as though seeking reassurance from something. She shook her head. "I don't know what… Oh, wait. Are you talking about the woman I had been talking to?"

"Yes."

"You think… you think that that could have been a Cetra? Like what Aerith was?"

"Yes, we do. Can you tell us what she told you?"

Marlene sighed. "I can't tell you. I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on, Cloud, and she… she didn't tell me very much. Not enough to really know anything that you're not telling me. But I _do _know that you guys don't need to worry; she's doing her best to help you guys. I don't know what that means, but it doesn't matter right now. None of you seem to think that I can help you in any way, so I won't get involved in whatever. Okay?"

Cloud shook his head. "I… It's just because there isn't anything that you need to be worried about. But can't you at least paraphrase? Er… tell us what she said in your own words?"

"No. I really want to, but I can't. I'm sorry, Cloud." Marlene paused for a moment. "I should go… I get the feeling that you guys need to talk about something. I'm sorry for interrupting."

Tifa shook her head. "No, you didn't interrupt anything. In fact, we're… we're done here for now. I'll go upstairs with you, and Cloud and Shelke will catch up."

Cloud nodded. "Oh, right. Yeah, we'll meet you guys up there."

Tifa stood up and walked Marlene upstairs. Cloud sighed, turning back towards Shelke, who had an odd look on her face.

"Shelke…?"

"When did Marlene become so mature…? I know it shouldn't surprise me, but… I just find it a bit strange, don't you?"

Cloud nodded. "Actually, you're right. She's started acting strangely lately… But she was fairly 'normal' this morning. I wonder if the Cetra rubbed off on her."

"Maybe…"

Cloud sighed. "We'd better get upstairs before Tifa kills us…"

Shelke smirked. "Right. After you…"

Cloud stood up and walked upstairs, but he didn't get very far, as right then he got a text from someone. Another delivery job, obviously…

Cloud looked down at his phone, but froze when he saw what it said. He sighed. "Oh, just perfect. I can't leave Sephiroth alone, but I can't take him _there…_"

Shelke shook her head. "Do realize that I have no idea what you're talking about, okay? Where?"

"Well… I have a few days, but… I just got a job to take something to Nibelheim."

Shelke sighed. "Perfect… Well, you'll figure it out, right?"

Cloud nodded. "I guess I have no choice."

Cloud continued upstairs, wondering what would happen now. Only the future would tell…


	11. Secrets and Stalkers

_**Secrets and Stalkers**_

Cloud sighed as he sat up in the morning. Tifa was nowhere to be found, which probably meant that she was already downstairs.

Cloud headed downstairs, not really knowing what else to do. Sure enough, Tifa was already waiting for him. Marlene, Shelke, and Denzel were nowhere to be seen, so they were probably still asleep.

"Hey, Cloud?" Tifa asked as soon as she saw him.

"Yeah?"

"Can I go with you today? To meet Sephiroth?"

Cloud paused. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Tifa shrugged. "He lost his memories, right? So what threat could he be to me?"

"Oh, I'm not worried about _him_ being a threat to _you. _I'm worried about _you _being a threat to _him_. If I take you, you need to promise not to kill him."

Tifa sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll try my hardest…"

Cloud nodded. "Then sure. I'm ready to go when you are. But what about 7th Heaven?"

"I'll leave Marlene in charge."

"Alright…"

Shelke walked downstairs, looking as though she hadn't woken up very long ago. Denzel was by her side, looking much more awake. Marlene was nowhere to be found, so she must have been the last to wake up.

"Hey guys…" Shelke said, shaking her head.

Cloud smiled slightly. "Hey. So you're going to be gone today, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Cloud shrugged. "Just checking. Denzel, do you think you and Marlene can handle the bar? I'm taking Tifa with me today…"

Denzel nodded. "Yeah, sure. I'll call if we need you guys to come back, okay?"

Tifa nodded. "Right. We both have our phones, so try both of us if you really need to reach us."

Shelke sighed. "Well, I'd better be off. I'll be back later today."

"Alright. Good luck with the WRO today," Cloud said.

Shelke smiled slightly. "Yeah, thanks…" With that, she walked outside and disappeared into the crowd of other people walking around Edge.

Cloud sighed. "I'd better go wake up Marlene before we go. It's not like her to sleep in…"

Tifa nodded, and Cloud walked upstairs. He quickly went into Marlene's room, where she was, just as he had thought, still asleep. She was curled up in her bed, with her satchel on the stand right next to her bed.

When had she started wearing that thing…? Cloud had seen her with that satchel for a few years, but she rarely wore it. So why was she always wearing it now? Perhaps she was trying to make herself seem older, so that Cloud would trust her enough to tell her everything…

What did she have in that thing, anyways? It wasn't very big, so she couldn't have kept much in it. Cloud curiosity got the best of him, and he slowly walked towards it. He didn't want to wake Marlene.

Cloud started to pick up the satchel. It wasn't very heavy, so there couldn't have been much in it. And it was just a small white leather satchel, so there wasn't much room for anything anyways.

Just as Cloud was about to open the satchel to see what was in it, Marlene sat straight up in her bed, looking over at Cloud. "What are you doing…?"

Surprised, Cloud dropped the satchel. It would have hit the floor, if Marlene hadn't caught it just in time.

Cloud shook his head. "I… I was coming to wake you up, but I was just wondering… What's in that thing?"

Marlene paused, and then reached into the satchel. "In here? Just some gil," she said, pulling out some of the currency to show him.

Cloud shook his head. "There's nothing else in there?"

"No, Cloud. It's just for carrying money. Anything else you may think you see is just the lining." Marlene slipped the gil back into her purse, sighing. "I'll be downstairs in a moment…"

Cloud shook his head. "Actually, I was going to tell you that I'm taking Tifa with me today, so you and Denzel are in charge. Alright?"

Marlene nodded. "Yeah, alright… Be careful, alright? Please?"

Cloud nodded. "We will be. I promise."

Cloud walked out of Marlene's room, gently closing the door behind him. He then walked downstairs to where Tifa and Denzel were still waiting.

Cloud looked over at Tifa. "Ready to go?"

Tifa nodded. "Yeah. Let's go before I change my mind…"

Cloud led Tifa outside. Tifa turned the sign on the front door to 'open' before following Cloud over to Fenrir. Cloud got on first, followed by Tifa. She wrapped her arms around his waist so that she wouldn't fall off, and they sped off towards Midgar. Cloud wondered whether or not Sephiroth would be waiting for them.

_Speaking of Sephiroth… _Cloud thought to himself, shaking his head. _Where's Jenova…? I haven't heard her all day… Well, maybe that's a good thing…_

Tifa looked around as they pulled into Midgar. She sighed. "It's been so long, and this place _still _depresses me…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, same here. Now, um… Just wait while I look around for him for a moment…"

It didn't take long for Cloud to find Sephiroth; it never really did. He was simply leaning against a wall out in the open, apparently having nothing better to do with his time.

Cloud felt Tifa's grip tighten slightly as they pulled to a stop next to Sephiroth. She then let go, getting off before Cloud. Sephiroth watched her silently, obviously wondering who she was and why she looked like she wanted to murder him.

Cloud sighed. "Hey, um… This is Tifa."

Sephiroth nodded. "I assumed. Hello, Tifa." His voice was overly-calm, which meant that he was either holding back emotions or trying not to show Tifa any fear. Probably both.

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "It's nice to meet you… So you don't remember anything, right?"

He shook his head. "No. Sheesh, why? You're acting differently than Cloud and Shelke… I don't know whether or not I should fear for my life at the moment."

Tifa smirked. "Nah. Probably. As long as you don't give me a reason to kill you, I won't."

"Good to know."

Cloud shook his head. "Alright, so… Now what?"

Tifa sighed. "Well… Didn't I hear you tell Shelke that you needed to go to Nibelheim?"

Cloud winced as Sephiroth looked down. "Yeah, but… not for a few days…"

"Oh, okay…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Sorry, Nibelheim? Where's that? There's just something about that name…"

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, uh… Nibelheim is a small country town… It's where Tifa and I grew up… And where a lot began for us."

"'Us'? You mean you two?"

Cloud nodded, even though he was lying. Nibelheim was where Sephiroth's journey had begun as well; just in a much different way, obviously. "Yeah, Tifa and I."

"Right. How, exactly? What happened there?" Sephiroth paused. "Actually, I doubt that I really should be asking."

Tifa smirked. "Good call. So then… Hey, wait. Did you guys hear that…?"

Cloud shook his head. "Hear what?"

Sephiroth walked over to a nearby alleyway. "No, she's right. I heard it too… A bird, perhaps?"

Tifa nodded, walking over to him. "It definitely sounded like wings… But it was too big to be a bird. A chocobo, perhaps?"

Cloud smirked. "Why would there be a chocobo in Midgar?"

Tifa sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Plus, they can't really fly. This thing landed… probably on one of the buildings. I don't know… Maybe it was a monster or something? Like a tonadu? What do you think, Sephiroth? You heard it too, right?"

Cloud had never expected Tifa to work with Sephiroth, but she seemed fine with it. He also realized something for the first time: something was wrong. Not like last night, of course, but there was obviously something or someone here that didn't really belong.

Sephiroth shrugged. "I have no idea what a tonadu is, but…" He looked up at one of the nearby buildings. "Judging by what I heard, I would say that you're right on one part. It's definitely a monster." His eyes held a cold look that Cloud had only ever seen once, back in Nibelheim; not murderous, not evil, just… cold. Subconsciously or not, he felt that something was wrong, just like Cloud did.

Tifa looked between the two of them. "Is there something you guys aren't telling me…?"

Cloud looked over at Sephiroth, who sighed. He shook his head. "I don't really know, but… There's something… wrong? I don't really know how to describe it…"

Tifa sighed unhappily. "Oh great… Cloud? Could it be…?"

"No. No, it's not them. Besides, Je-" Cloud froze mid-word, realizing how awful it would have been if he had said Jenova's name in front of Sephiroth. Sephiroth seemed to be able to get feelings from certain words, and Jenova's name would have definitely triggered some sort of memory…

To Cloud's dismay, Sephiroth pushed him further. "What aren't you guys telling me…? I have the feeling that there's something important going on, and I'm just as important to it as you guys obviously are. So shouldn't I deserve to know?"

_No, not really… _But Cloud shrugged. "Well… There isn't anything going on at the moment, but… There may be a threat to the Planet… That's all we really know, though."

"Really? Can I help in any way?"

Tifa smirked. "Not at the moment, no… But soon, maybe."

Sephiroth nodded, but froze as he heard something again. This time, Cloud heard it, too. It was someone talking. Cloud could barely hear them, so there was no telling who it was. But there were obviously two voices. Where were they coming from…? Cloud realized that he had heard the voices for awhile, but they were just now getting a bit louder.

Sephiroth looked around, and then locked onto a nearby building. "It's coming from up there. Who is that…? I can barely hear their voices, but…"

Then, all of them jumped as they heard the unmistakable sound of metal on metal.

Cloud ran over to Fenrir and pulled out one of the Fusion Sword parts. "If we have to fight, we can, right?"

Tifa nodded, and they both looked at Sephiroth. He shrugged. "If I have to. I've never fought before, but… I can certainly try." Cloud wasn't certain that letting Sephiroth fight if the need came would be the best idea, but…

Cloud nodded, looking around. Suddenly, everything was silent. At first. Then, they all heard the sound of a large amount of air being pushed out of the way of something; most likely wings. They all looked around, but saw nothing and no one.

Sephiroth sighed. "This is a weird city…"

Tifa nodded. "Tell me about it..."

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

After a few hours of random conversations ranging from Cloud's delivery service to chocobos and even moogles and just about everything in between, the sky finally started to get dark.

Cloud sighed. "Tifa and I should probably be headed back…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Oh, alright… See you tomorrow, then?"

Tifa shook her head. "Not me. I need to stay back with Denzel and Marlene, but Cloud will probably come… right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow…"

Cloud slid the part of the Fusion Swords back into its proper place, and jumped on Fenrir. Tifa climbed on behind, looking back at Sephiroth once more as he walked off. As soon as he was gone, she sighed.

"Hey, Cloud… Do you think one of the people fighting from earlier was Jenova?"

Cloud nodded. "It's definitely possible. If that's true, than perhaps she was fighting the Cetra. Or even this mysterious G."

"Yeah… Have you heard from her at all today? Jenova?"

Cloud shook his head. "No… Now that I'm thinking about it, actually, you're right. Also, I've noticed that she can only seem to talk to one person at a time, so it would make sense if it was her talking up there. But where is she now?"

Tifa shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't feel safe at night without knowing where she is. She's obviously stronger in the darkness… we found that out last night. Ah, I guess it really doesn't matter right now. We should just get back…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. We need to make sure that Marlene and Denzel are alright…"

Cloud pushed Fenrir forward, not even bothering to realize that he had the feeling that someone was watching him… someone _besides _Jenova.


	12. Inevitable Chaos

**A/N: Okay, originally this chapter was going to be far in the future, but now that I'm speeding things up… Let's get to the suspenseful, more action-y part! Finally!**

* * *

_**Inevitable Chaos**_

Cloud pulled to a stop in front of 7th Heaven, leading Tifa back inside to where Marlene, Shelke, and Denzel were all sitting around and waiting.

Shelke stood up. "About time… Do you know, by chance, that it's nearly midnight? What were you guys _doing_?"

Tifa shook her head. "Sorry… I forgot that it takes nearly an hour to get here from… where we were… When you're going legal speeds, of course. We all know that Cloud can get there in about five minutes, but…"

Cloud smirked. "Never mind that. Marlene, Denzel, why are you guys still awake?"

Denzel shrugged. "We wanted to make sure you guys were alright… Now that we know you are, we'll be going…"

Denzel stood up and started to walk away, but paused. "Marlene? Are you coming?"

Marlene nodded. "Yeah; one second, please. I want to talk to them…"

Denzel sighed tiredly. "Alright… I'm just going to go upstairs, then…"

Denzel trudged upstairs, obviously barely keeping himself awake. Marlene, though, seemed much more awake than she should have been. She seemed to have even more energy that anyone else in the room did at the moment, which was a bit odd.

Cloud looked over at Marlene. "What did you want to tell us…? I think we should all be getting some rest tonight…"

Marlene nodded. "Yeah. Sorry… I don't know why I'm so awake." She tilted her head, and then nodded. "Oh; anyways… I just thought that you guys should know… I think Aerith is trying to contact you, Cloud. I heard her in my dreams last night… That's why I was asleep longer than normal. But she wasn't able to say anything… She was being held back by someone; someone that didn't want her to speak to me. I think she wanted to contact you, though."

Cloud felt like he'd been hit. "I remember… She tried to contact me at the Forgotten City… But she wasn't able to reach me then, either. I nearly passed out from her trying to get to me…"

Tifa looked startled. "But… Why isn't she able to contact either of you?"

Marlene thought for a moment. "I don't know… We must need a direct connection to break through to her… But what?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't know… Well, perhaps the White Materia would help? But…"

Marlene lit up. "The White Materia…? Why didn't I think of that?"

"It doesn't matter whether or not it would help, though…" Cloud said, sighing. "It's… unattainable at the moment. Anyways, Marlene, you shouldn't have to be involved in any of this. You should get some sleep… Just let us worry about all of this."

Marlene sighed. "Fine, fine. I know you're right… I just want to help… Oh, if only we had the White Materia… If I'm remembering what you told me about it, it has incredible light power…"

Cloud shrugged. "Yes, but we don't have it anymore… And I, um, don't know who does…" Cloud knew that Jenova knew where the White Materia _was, _but that didn't necessarily mean that she actually _had _it. It was most likely still at the bottom of the lake back at the Forgotten City… he'd have to go there again soon…

Marlene shrugged. "I wish I could help more, but… Unfortunately, I don't know who has it… I thought it got lost, though? Shouldn't nobody have it?"

Cloud nodded. "Probably."

Marlene sighed. "Great… Oh well. It doesn't really have anything to do with me at the moment, apparently. So… good night…"

Shelke jumped in for the first time. "Actually, I think we should come with. It's been a long day for all of us, I'm assuming…"

Tifa nodded. "Yeah. Let's get some rest…"

The four of them headed upstairs, each of them going to their separate rooms. Cloud and Tifa both sat down after getting ready for bed. Tifa made sure that the door was tightly closed first, as Marlene's room was close by.

Tifa sighed. "Poor Marlene… She obviously feels so out of control in all of this…"

Cloud shrugged. "She's not the only one. But I wonder… How is it that Aerith was able to contact her? She contacted me through the Forgotten City… Here, Marlene would probably have to be someone special…"

Tifa smiled slightly. "Maybe Marlene has some sort of secret power she's hiding from us. Anyways…"

Cloud nodded. "Right, anyways… I think we may be on to something, with the White Materia. It may be our one chance at winning whatever battle is coming… But, like Jenova said, there's no way for us to get it. She knows exactly where it is – probably hidden somewhere far away, or deep within the Forgotten City's lake – and I doubt that she'll let us get to it."

"Well, maybe we can sneak to the Forgotten City when she's not looking."

_**You could, but it would be futile.**_

Cloud jumped, nearly falling off of the bed. Tifa sighed. "She heard that, didn't she? Of course, she chooses _now _to come back…"

Cloud sighed unhappily. "Why would it be futile?"

_**I won't let you get it. Obviously. It's well protected; and besides, you'll never be able to find it without knowing **_**exactly **_**where it is.**_

Cloud sighed, relaying the information to Tifa. He shook his head. "Never mind. Let's just… ignore her. And get some rest."

Tifa nodded, lying down on her bed. Cloud did the same, hoping only that, perhaps, Aerith may be able to finally get through to one of them…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-

The next morning, Cloud was a bit sad as Aerith had not contacted him. But he hadn't really expected her to be able to, of course…

Cloud decided to let Tifa wake up on her own, as he knew that he should get going. It was also probably 7:00 or so, which was earlier than everyone normally woke up. He walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Shelke was – unexpectedly – standing there, waiting for him.

"Hey, Cloud?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah? Shouldn't you either be asleep or on the way to help Vincent and Reeve?"

She nodded. "Yeah, well… that's what I wanted to talk to you about… Can you come with me?"

Cloud paused. "Um, what? I kind of don't have time…"

"Well, yeah, I know, but Sephiroth can wait. Vincent just called, and apparently they just realized that there was a disturbance underneath Midgar at about the same time as the Deepground incident… I was thinking that you may be able to help us with that?"

Cloud shrugged. "I didn't have a very big part in that battle… It was mainly Vincent, really. So why do you need my help?"

Shelke sighed. "Well… It isn't the battle itself that has a part in this little issue… We just think that Hojo may have used this space. Although Vincent may be able to help us, you know Hojo as well."

"Oh, um… Yeah, I guess…" Cloud shrugged. "Fine, let's go. But we can't be long…"

Shelke nodded. "Of course. Let's go… and be quiet, so that we don't wake the others…"

Cloud and Shelke walked downstairs to another unexpected thing: Marlene was sitting at a table, by herself. She wasn't paying them any attention, as though she was focused on something else.

Cloud motioned for Shelke to be silent, as he wanted to see if he could figure out what was going on. He took a few steps forward before Marlene jumped, turning around to face them. She couldn't have _possibly _heard them, so she must have seen them in some sort of reflective surface… but what? There was nothing around her at the moment…

"Cloud! Shelke! Oh, um, hi! Uh…"

Cloud shook his head. "What were you doing…?"

"Doing? Nothing! Nothing at all! Why do you ask? Why are you two up so early?"

Shelke shrugged. "We're going to go help the WRO… What aren't you telling us…?"

"Nothing! I'm just energetic lately, that's all. I don't know why, but it doesn't really matter. Everyone's energies are starting to affe- ahem, ummm… Cloud, why are you going to the WRO?"

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "To help Shelke with something… Never mind. We'll see you later, I guess…"

Cloud led Shelke outside, shaking his head. "I'm so confused at the moment… But she's been acting weird lately, so I guess her actions shouldn't really surprise me…"

Shelke nodded as they started walking towards the WRO headquarters in Edge. "Yeah… I don't really know, Cloud. That girl's hiding something… She acts much older than she is, and she's being very secretive. Do you think she knows about what's going on?"

Cloud shrugged. "She knows _something. _There's a good chance that she overheard us talking… But she can't know more than any of us. So there's no reason she should be acting like she is…"

"Yeah… But what about the Cetra that talked to her? How much did she tell Marlene?"

"I don't know…" Cloud sighed. "But Marlene told us that the Cetra didn't tell her very much, and Marlene normally isn't a good liar…"

"Right… Oh, I know! Ask Jenova! She's got a good idea of what everyone knows and doesn't know, right? I don't think of her as an ally in any way, but I have a good feeling that she knows exactly what Marlene does and doesn't know. So, like it or not, she's the best shot we have at knowing…"

"Unfortunately, for once she's being quiet. She always chooses the worst times…"

Shelke shrugged, leading the way to the headquarters. When they finally got there, she opened the front door and let the both of them into the building.

"Shelke. And Cloud; good," Reeve Tuesti said, walking up to the two. Had he been waiting for them…? "We were just about to depart." He was still wearing his suit, so Cloud assumed that he wasn't going to go with them.

Cloud nodded. "Where are we going, exactly? And why?"

"Vincent will explain everything on the way there, alright?"

"Oh, alright… Where is he?"

Reeve nodded for the two of them to follow, which they did. He led them through a few tunnels, finally stopping before a large door. He opened the door, which revealed a large tunnel and a few different people. Among them were Vincent Valentine and Yuffie Kisaragi. Reeve then turned and walked away, obviously having something important to attend to.

"Shelke! _Cloud_! Hey!" Yuffie said, her usual energetic self. She rushed up to the two of them, grinning. "Alright! Now with you and Vinnie, we have some of the original team back together!"

Cloud smiled slightly. "Ah, Yuffie, how I've kind of missed your optimistic personality…"

Vincent smirked, walking up to them. He was dressed in the same outfit he always wore, just like Yuffie was in one of the outfits that _she _always wore.

Vincent sighed. "Did Reeve fill you in?"

Shelke shook her head. "No, not really. I told Cloud all that I know… And that's not too much."

Vincent shook his head. "Fine; I'll tell you everything as we walk. Come on, everyone." He motioned at the other six or seven soldiers that were there, and they all started down the tunnel and probably towards Midgar.

Vincent sighed as they walked forward. "So, anyways… The WRO hadn't monitored Midgar for a while, so they didn't even realize that something was wrong until now. Apparently, soon after the Deepground crisis ended, there was a large release of energy deep underneath Midgar. Nobody knows why, and that's what we're doing today. Although I'm not officially a part of the WRO, I think that that has lately become the case. And so that's why I'm helping with this… Plus, if Weiss is back…"

Cloud nodded. "Right. We destroy him. What do you think it was, though? Weiss? Omega? Or… something else?"

Vincent shook his head. "Something else. I killed Omega – for good, I hope – and I would recognize its power. This is something different… but I don't know what."

Shelke shook her head. "G!" she blurted out, pausing at Vincent's questioning look. But she ignored him, turning to Cloud. "It's got to be G! Right? Who else could it be? Ugh, I wish we had _someone's _help right now…"

Vincent paused. "'Someone'? Who?"

Cloud sighed. "That doesn't matter right now. Shelke… if it's G, then that means that he's definitely somewhere out on the Planet right now. He could even be here, watching us. And he may be helping you-know-who."

Shelke nodded. "I bet he is."

"But wait. Didn't she say that G and the other you-know-who were basically mortal enemies now? Like with me? So why would she be helping G?"

"Without memories, she probably doesn't care about his past. There's a chance that she never really did. All she probably cares about is power, right? So…"

Cloud nodded, ignoring Vincent's annoyed glare. "Exactly. So then we're probably being stalked right now… We may want to stop and listen for a minute soon."

Vincent sighed. "Why are you two keeping secrets from me?" He looked ahead at Yuffie, who was busy having a rapid-fire conversation with an obviously-confused soldier. Vincent smirked. "Keeping secrets from _her_ I may understand. But me? I have a large role in protecting this Planet as well, you know. Whether I like it or not."

Cloud sighed. "I know… We'll tell you soon, I promise. But… for now, believe me when I say that we cannot tell you. Literally. I don't know what would happen if we did… Shelke found out by accident, which I couldn't control. But if I tell you directly…" Cloud paused. "Plus, Shelke tends to think before destroying people that may or may not be evil. You, however…"

Vincent shrugged. "Your point? Besides, I wouldn't kill someone unless I know that they're truly pure evil. For example, if Sephiroth was back… I wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Even if you're the only one who can, Cloud, I'd destroy him. Or if Weiss were back, it would be the same situation. But if it was anyone else, I'd wait for you to tell me whether or not they're an enemy."

Cloud and Shelke looked at each other, and then back at Vincent. Cloud sighed. "Um… Right… Well… Anyways, I can't tell you yet. Just be patient. How much farther until we're there?"

Vincent glared angrily at Cloud, but sighed. "I know you like doing things by yourself, Cloud, but for you to be _this _rigid… Well, your hands are obviously tied, so I won't push either of you any farther. And we should be there quite soon… Actually, I think it's right ahead."

Not long after Vincent said that, the group entered a large cavern. Light was streaming in from a hole in the rock above, shining down on the large, rocky area. Stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere, and there was a shallow body of water that took up most of the floor. There were a few small island-like pieces of rock, although the most prominent was one that was somehow in the very center.

But something other than the geography caught Cloud; something that was floating on the still water, right next to the island in the middle: a black feather. It reminded Cloud of one of the feathers from Sephiroth's one wing, but it was different somehow. Wait… hadn't Sephiroth and Tifa heard some kind of winged creature land on a building nearby, just a few moments before there had been sounds of swords? So Sephiroth wasn't the only one with the one wing, then… But then that would mean that G – if that was who this was – probably had something to do with the JENOVA Project… Cloud felt like he should know what was going on but, again, someone seemed to be blocking all of his memories from before the Nibelheim incident ten years ago. Why?

Cloud realized for the first time how silent it was as everyone looked around. Nobody was moving, as they were trying to figure out just what to do now. Cloud listened as closely as he could, not really sure what he was listening for.

Cloud heard someone over to his left accidentally kick a rock into the water, causing ripples to form. He turned to ask everyone to be still for just a moment longer, as he was certain that there had to be someone there that didn't belong. Then, though, he remembered something: nobody in the group was moving. And even if they were, they were all standing on his right.

If nobody in the group was moving _or _standing on Cloud's left side, then who had tripped and kicked the rock?

Cloud spun around to his left, looking for anyone. Because of the odd lighting, the edges of the cavern were far too dark to see anything, unfortunately. He turned back towards the rest of the group, hoping that whoever it had been thought that they were safe now.

"Alright, everyone," Yuffie said, looking around at the group. "Start looking for anything… strange? Yeah, I guess. Anything strange."

Cloud motioned over at the feather. "What about that?"

Yuffie laughed slightly. "It's a crow feather. The top of the cavern is open, Cloud. Sheesh, don't jump at _everything_…"

The soldiers smiled slightly as they walked off to the right side of the cavern, and Cloud nodded. "Oh, um, right…" He knew far better than anyone else that that was _not _a bird feather. But perhaps it was better that nobody knew about what was going on…

Cloud immediately turned to the left, as nobody seemed to think there would be anything important over there for some reason. The edge of the cavern went farther back than he had expected, which definitely explained how someone could hide. But they couldn't hide for much longer…

Cloud looked around. Everything was silent, as the sound of the others was blocked from this part of the cave. And Cloud immediately knew he wasn't alone, thanks to that fact.

Someone was following him. And closely, too.

Cloud turned around in all directions, barely able to see even with his enhanced abilities. He couldn't see anyone, and he also knew that nobody from the group would know if he was in trouble.

Cloud let out a deep breath. "I know you're there… Who are you…? Are you helping Jenova? And why are you following me?"

Cloud was too busy looking in front of him, trying to see _anything_. He didn't even think that someone could be behind him. But, unfortunately…

Cloud suddenly felt a gloved hand being clapped over his mouth, rendering him unable to speak. It felt like the kind of glove Sephiroth used to wear, but this person seemed… _different _than Sephiroth, somehow. The person pulled Cloud back against him so that Cloud couldn't get away, and this person seemed to be wearing an outfit similar to the one Sephiroth had used to wear as well. So this had to be a SOLDIER member, even if that wasn't the official outfit… And that meant only one thing: this was G. Cloud had only ever feared for his life when facing Sephiroth, but he felt that this encounter may very well end in his death.

"Unfortunately," the man said, his voice so incredibly familiar to Cloud somehow, "those are not questions I feel like answering at the moment. Although… no, I am not helping… _her. _Wouldn't _that _be ironic, seeing as how I've spent so long defying her…? Now, if you had Sephiroth with you, perhaps I would feel like speaking more. But since that's not the case at the moment…"

Suddenly, the man hit Cloud just right so that Cloud's entire world turned black, and he fell to the ground, wondering if he would ever wake up.


	13. SOLDIERs and Spies

**A/N: Hmmm, I'm almost to chapter 15… I originally didn't think I'd make it that far, especially with speeding everything up… That's going to be the chapter where I may stop, even though the storyline itself still has a long way to go… I don't know whether or not I should stop there… I'll figure it out when I get there, I guess… Oh, and by the way, I'm going to stop doing author notes as me the writer and start doing them as the narrator instead, except for in a few instances. ((Future edit: HAHAHAHA, yeah, right. Nice one, me! Yeah, you never did, so I took over. Mwahaha!)) Alright? Okay, to the story...**

* * *

_**SOLDIERs and Spies**_

_Cloud could see nothing, but he felt as though he was floating. Was he dreaming? Or had G killed him? No, he could tell that he wasn't dead…_

_Cloud thought that he heard someone's voice, but he couldn't be sure who it was. Then, he heard another voice. A voice that was much closer. A voice that he hadn't heard in three years._

Zack? Is that… is that you?

_Cloud was barely able to speak mentally to his old friend, and he wasn't sure it would reach anyone. But, luckily…_

Cloud! Yeah, it's me! Man, you really got yourself into trouble this time, didn't you…?

_Suddenly, Cloud was in the grey expanse that was Zack's dreamstate. He saw his old friend standing nearby, which was a bit odd as normally they would have been standing back-to-back and Cloud wasn't really allowed to look at him. But things were changing, and this was no exception._

_Cloud shook his head. "How… How did you…? Aerith-"_

"_I know, I know. Aerith is trapped or something. Even I can't reach her! Sucks, too, because I think I was starting to get her to like me again. But anyways… What happened to you?"_

"_I… I don't really know… I was attacked from behind by someone… he knocked me out without me being able to do anything, but not before saying that he couldn't answer any of the questions I had been asking unless Sephiroth was there."_

_Zack looked startled. "Whoa whoa whoa, wait. Sephiroth? Isn't he dead still? Please tell me he's still dead. No offense, but the last time you fought him, you probably would have lost if I hadn't stepped in…"_

_Cloud sighed. "Right, I know… He's back, but… he doesn't remember anything about his past."_

_Zack sighed. "Honestly, I'd kill him before he could remember. But, then again… he _was _a good guy before he went all evil and everything, so maybe I wouldn't. And how did he lose his memories…? I know that the Lifestream can do that, but not when he comes back. Not without aid, at least."_

_Cloud nodded. "Oh, it had aid. Ironically enough, from the person that _originally _tried to destroy it…"_

"_Wait… You mean that alien thing? JENOVA, or something?"_

_Cloud nodded. "Yeah, her. Bu-"_

_Cloud felt as though he was starting to be pulled away from the dreamstate, which was both a good thing and a bad thing. He shook his head. "Zack, quick. Were there any SOLDIER 1__st__ Classes with a name that started with 'G'?"_

_Zack nodded. "Ohhhh yeah. That guy… Sheesh, I still don't know whether he was trying to destroy the Planet or help it! And don't even get me started on that obsession of Loveless that he had… I thought that that alone was going to kill me… Anyways, you know him, too. Or you should. You were kind of incapacitated because of the Mako addiction – I still don't get how you survived that, no offense – but you still should have been able to hear and see him."_

"_Yes, but can you tell me his _name_?"_

"_Oh, uh, yeah. Ge-"_

Cloud, wake up! Damn it… Did he kill you?

_Cloud shook his head. "Damn… It's going to have to wait, Zack. I get the feeling that he'll introduce himself soon, anyways. And at least I know that you can contact me. But… you need to find a way to contact Aerith. She obviously knows something that our 'enemy' doesn't want us knowing."_

_Zack nodded. "Alright, then. Good luck with life… I'll contact you if I find anything, alright? Immediately, as this probably can't wait."_

"_Right. See you later, then." Cloud sighed as he let the dream fade away. _

Almost instantly, Cloud felt the hard, cold floor of the cavern.

"Oh, finally… You know, I thought he might have killed you, which probably would have sucked for everyone…"

Cloud shook his head, sitting up. "Wait a minute… I know that voice… Jenova?"

"Heh, yeah… What, you thought I was going to let these other people find out what's going on here? You've been out for, like, seven or eight hours – Yuffie 'decided' to investigate Deepground's old place as well, and I convinced them to let you 'stay here' – and they're almost done… In fact, some of them are looking for you at the moment…"

Cloud could barely see Jenova's outline nearby. She wasn't wearing her cloak anymore, but he still couldn't really see what she looked like. He noted, though, that her eyes were slightly glowing a purplish-pink. And that made sense, as that was what her eyes had looked like when she had been in Nibelheim. Cloud could also see that she had silver hair similar to Sephiroth's, although it wasn't nearly as long as his, which just seemed a bit backwards to Cloud.

Jenova shrugged. "Okay, so… Are you good? Can you walk? Because you need to get going…"

"And how are _you _going to get out of here without being seen, exactly?"

"Mmmm… same way I got in, duh. Pretend to be a soldier. Man, that Yuffie chick can _talk_…"

Now that she mentioned it, Cloud _did_ realize that the WRO soldier that Yuffie had been talking to had been watching him when she could…

She paused for a moment, and then sighed. "Alright, then. Let's go…"

"Aren't people going to find your appearance a bit strange?"

"Nope. I'm hiding my eyes with these sunglass things, and nobody in this world seems to care that it's a bit odd for people to have silver hair…"

Cloud shrugged. "Alright, then. Let's get going, I guess… Wait a minute, is that why you haven't been talking to me at all today? Because you've been spying on me?"

"Yeah, your point? Heh, it was a bit hard to keep a straight face while you and Shelke were talking about me…"

Smirking, Cloud stood up. "Alright, let's go…"

Jenova nodded and led Cloud back out to the group that was waiting for them. When they got into the light, Cloud noted that Jenova actually _did _look normal. She was wearing the same outfit as the WRO soldiers, and as long as she hid her eyes, she looked perfectly human. Her skin was paler than most, of course, but that wouldn't be difficult for anyone to accept.

Shelke looked relieved as the two approached. "Finally! I thought you'd been captured by you-know-who…"

Cloud noted Jenova's slight, quick smile, and he shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine. This cave is just large, that's all."

Vincent nodded. "Yeah… The soldier that went to find you said that you were fine looking around by yourself, so none of us went over there. Did you find anything?"

Cloud sighed. "No, nothing…"

Yuffie looked disappointed. "Yeah, same. This place is empty. Whoever was here before is definitely gone now… And nothing has changed in that old Deepground place, either… I don't know why I decided to go down there, really…"

Cloud shrugged. "Right… So, are we going now?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yep. Let's go… Maybe we can come back later, and something will have changed. But for now, there's nothing here except for a few rocks that have a slightly higher electromagnetic field than they should."

"Well, did we really expect anything more?" Cloud asked.

Vincent shook his head. "Well… I could have _sworn _that Weiss fell right about here after I defeated him, but I guess not."

Cloud glanced sideways at Jenova, who shrugged. In other words, she wasn't sure about what had happened to Weiss, either.

Shelke sighed. "Well… I guess we should be going, right?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah. Come on, everyone. Let's head back…"

The entire group started back towards the WRO headquarters. Shelke stayed right next to Cloud, as did Jenova. Shelke didn't seem to even pay attention to her, luckily. And the rest of the members of the group were doing their own things.

Cloud realized that there were lights in the tunnels that were now turned on, which Jenova didn't seem to like very much. Cloud remembered that she was much stronger in the darkness, and probably weaker in the light… so the lights were a great relief to Cloud.

"So…" Shelke said, lowering her voice so as not to get heard by Jenova. But Cloud knew that Jenova's hearing was better than a human's, so she could obviously hear everything. "Did anything _really _happen?"

Cloud glanced at Jenova, who cautiously nodded. Cloud sighed, lowering his voice as well for no real reason. "Yes. I think I may have heard G in there with us, but… I don't know, really. He didn't show himself to me."

Cloud wasn't lying; he _hadn't _seen G. He had only heard him. But he was phrasing it so that Shelke obviously thought not too much had happened.

Shelke nodded. "I thought so. And Jenova?"

Jenova looked over at her subconsciously, but then looked away as fast as she could. Cloud quickly covered up for her accidental response. "Oh, um, no. I didn't see Jenova. But I don't think that she's working with G."

"Why not?"

"I don't know… I just get the feeling that G wouldn't work with her."

"Okay…"

Cloud sighed. "Shelke… What do _you _think is happening? With G, and Jenova, et cetera?"

"I don't really know… But can I really say too much? Aren't they watching us? Closely?"

"A bit more closely than you may think… Honestly, I feel as though Jenova is always right next to me, especially today."

Jenova discreetly hit Cloud, who didn't do anything other than wince and smile slightly. Shelke didn't seem to notice anything, as she was looking around the tunnel.

"Yeah…" Shelke subconsciously said. She sighed and looked back at Cloud. "But… how can she be watching us if she's somewhere else right now? You said yourself that she hasn't been talking to you today, right?"

"Oh, uh, right. But she's powerful, so… I think she probably found a way to watch us still…"

Shelke looked around at the soldiers. "Do you think that, maybe, she's pretending to be a soldier? She can take on the form of others sometimes, right?"

Cloud shrugged. "I doubt it. Don't you think she'd be a bit obvious? She seems to be unable to avoid jumping into our conversations…"

Jenova slowed down her walking pace so as to be farther behind them, drawing less attention to herself. However, Cloud knew that she could still hear them.

Shelke nodded. "True. Ugh, I just feel like there's so much that I don't understand…"

Cloud glanced at Jenova. She wasn't paying him any attention anymore for some reason; she seemed to be focused on something else, which Cloud guess meant that she was probably talking to someone. He sighed. "You're not the only one…"

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Nearly three hours later – thanks to the fact that it took so long to get to and from Midgar by foot – the group made it back to the door that led into the WRO building. Vincent opened the door and let them in, to where Reeve was, yet again, waiting for them.

"So, did you guys find anything?"

Yuffie shook her head. "The rocks had a bit of an electric charge, but other than that there was nothing. Whoever had been there before is long gone."

Reeve sighed. "Oh well, I don't really know what I expected you to find… You all can go, then. Although… Cloud and Shelke?"

The two of them walked over to him. "Yes?" Cloud asked, noting that Jenova was leaning against a wall and waiting for them to leave so that she could get going as well.

Reeve sighed. "There's something going on with you two. I don't know what, but you're hiding something. I don't know if the two of you are in trouble, but… I want you guys to be safe. So I think you should take one of the soldiers with you, at least just until you get back to 7th Heaven."

Cloud shrugged. "Alright…"

Reeve motioned over at Jenova, who froze. She shook her head. "W-wait, me? You want _me_ to escort them?"

Shelke paused at hearing her voice, and Cloud remembered that Jenova had talked to her once before. But Shelke seemed to decide just to ignore the remembrance.

Reeve nodded. "Yes, please."

Jenova looked a bit panicked, but regained her composure and nodded. "Right. Of course…"

Reeve smiled slightly at Cloud and Shelke. "Alright, then. Cloud, please say 'hello' to Marlene, Tifa, and Denzel for me, alright?"

Cloud nodded. "Right. Yeah, sure."

Reeve walked off, then, leaving Cloud, Jenova, and Shelke by themselves. Shelke shrugged. "Alright, let's get going, I guess. Sorry it's a bit late, Cloud… You can go into Midgar tomorrow, alright?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, right…" He looked over at Jenova, who sighed unhappily and walked over to them.

Shelke tilted her head. "Hey, I apologize for asking this, but… do I know you from somewhere?"

Jenova shook her head. "Uh… no, I'm sorry. I don't think so…"

"I could _swear _I've heard your voice before…"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't think you have. Now, um, let's get going. Before it gets all too dark out. Man, we were down there awhile…"

Shelke nodded. "Yeah… We can't be out in the dark again…"

Jenova couldn't hide a sly smile. "Why are you two so afraid of the dark? It's not like there's anybody to fear in Edge… right?"

Cloud glared at her. "That doesn't really matter. Anyways, let's get going. Alright?"

Jenova shrugged. "Fine, fine. I'll be glad to get out of these lights… It's far too bright in here."

Shelke nodded. "I know, right? But trust me when I say that this is better than being out in the darkness as of late…"

"For _you _maybe…" Cloud barely heard Jenova mutter. This time, _he _smiled slyly.

"Hey, Shelke, are you sure you're not forgetting something here? I mean, there's no reason to leave immediately, right?"

Jenova glared at Cloud with such hatred that Cloud was a bit worried at first, but he shrugged. Jenova sighed unhappily. "Fine, I get it. Have your fun now… but as soon as we get outside…"

Shelke looked a bit confused. "Um… what? No, Cloud, I think everything of mine is back at your house… And shouldn't we be going before it gets too dark? I mean, it's almost ten right now, but it'll take us about twenty or so minutes to get back to 7th Heaven… If we wait any longer, it'll be far too dark for safety."

Jenova grinned. "Oh yes, far too dark."

Cloud sighed. "We really can't stay here any longer?"

Shelke shrugged. "I guess we can, but why would you want to? It's safety for now, but a large risk later."

"Yeah, I just don't want _someone _to be able to try and kill us again."

Jenova smirked. "Ah, nobody will kill you. But they might if you guys stay here for much longer. After all, I know that the darkness can be empowering for some people that you obviously find to be enemies. They may be weakened greatly in the light, but as soon as they get into the darkness, they just may try to kill you… Right, Cloud?"

Shelke nodded. "As cryptic as that was, she's right. Please, Cloud?"

Cloud sighed. "Fine, fine. But I need to borrow one of these lights at some point…"

Shelke smirked. "Right… Okay, shall we get going?"

Cloud nodded and started walking forward, but Jenova subconsciously took the lead. Cloud shrugged and followed her, as did Shelke.

As soon as they stepped outside, Cloud was worried. There were still lights, but not many. Jenova almost rushed to the end of the lights, and Cloud unhappily followed.

Jenova nodded back at them. "Alright, ready?"

Cloud and Shelke nodded, and the three of them stepped out of the comfort of the lights and into the darkness of the night. Jenova instantly smiled, looking back at a defeated, worried Cloud. She turned forward again, though, making no move against Cloud or Shelke.

Cloud and Shelke looked at each other, worried because of how dark it was already. Maybe Jenova wouldn't harm them, but that other person seemed to be a different story… Plus, Jenova may very well attack them at any time.

Jenova shrugged as they walked forward. "Come on now, you two. You don't have to look so sad. Is the twilight really all that bad?"

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, kind of."

"Really? Huh. I actually find it quite livable. In fact, night is my favorite time of the entire day."

Shelke shook her head. "Perhaps that's how _you _feel, but…" Cloud couldn't tell whether or not she suspected that it was Jenova she was talking to. But he knew that she suspected _something_.

Suddenly, both Cloud and Jenova saw something, immediately turning to their left. It had been a person in red and black, but that was all Cloud had seen. Cloud looked over at Jenova. "Was that…?"

She nodded. "Yes. Yes, it was him. I need to get you two back to 7th Heaven, fast. There's no more time to play around… Come on; let's get the hell out of here. "

Shelke shook her head. "What's going on?"

Cloud sighed. "There's no time to explain. But G is following us. And we need to go; now."

Shelke nodded, and the three of them took off. Cloud noted that Jenova was holding something in both of her hands; probably her black katanas, just in case.

It didn't take very long for them all to sprint all the way to 7th Heaven. Even Jenova was breathing heavily as they finally stopped running, although she was much better off than Cloud, who felt like he was about to fall over and die. Shelke obviously felt the same, and Cloud assumed that Jenova had somehow pulled some of their energy for herself; just in case G decided to try and kill them. Cloud looked over at her. "Did… did you… take-"

"Yeah, um, sorry about that. I just hate feeling even slightly weak. Especially in the darkness…"

Cloud rolled his eyes and quickly let the three of them into 7th Heaven as soon as he could breathe again.

Unfortunately, Marlene, Tifa, and Denzel were all waiting for them. Marlene froze as soon as she saw all of them, but then looked at Tifa.

Tifa shook her head. "What… what happened to you guys? And who is this?"

Cloud shook his head. "Long story short, Reeve told her to come with us because he knew something was up. And on our way here, we sort of saw G watching us, we think…"

Denzel shook his head. "Uh, G? Who is that?"

Shelke sighed, still trying to catch her breath. "Never… never mind that. It's past ten, and you should be asleep."

Denzel smirked. "Marlene won't _let _me sleep. She has all this energy all of a sudden…"

Jenova looked over at Marlene, who instantly froze. Could she tell that this was Jenova…? Marlene had always been a bit more sensitive to others for some reason, although Cloud had always assumed it was because she was young and innocent, or something like that.

Marlene sighed and stood up. "Denzel, I think we should actually get going…" She put her one hand in her satchel, waiting for Denzel to get up and start to go upstairs. Marlene looked over at Jenova once more, pulling her hand out of her satchel and smiling slightly at her. Even with the glasses on, Cloud could just barely see Jenova's eyes move to look at something around Marlene's neck: a necklace that Cloud had never noticed. Jenova smirked, which instantly made Cloud assume that the Cetra had given the necklace to Marlene.

Marlene walked away without another word, not even looking back. Just by the silent exchange between her and Jenova, Cloud could tell that Marlene knew exactly who Jenova was. Marlene also probably was being protected by the Cetra, which was why she had seemed so confident.

Jenova sighed. "Ah, I should probably be going. Good night, all of you…"

Before any of them could even say anything, Jenova had already walked outside. Cloud shook his head. "I'll be right back…"

Cloud ran outside after Jenova, who hadn't gotten very far. She looked back at him. "What do you want…?"

Cloud shrugged. "To know why you helped us."

Jenova sighed, taking her glasses off and letting them fade into the shadows. She looked over at 7th Heaven to make sure that nobody was able to watch her. She then transformed back into an outfit that made more sense than the WRO uniform. Her outfit was a tight jumpsuit that seemed to be made of entirely black leather and covered her entire body except for her head and neck. Her two black katanas were on her hips in case she needed them. Her silver hair went halfway down her back, and her purple-pink eyes shone brightly in the darkness – which was a bit backwards. Also, Cloud noted that she looked to be maybe eighteen or nineteen in this form - even though her height made her seem older than that, since she seemed to be as tall as Sephiroth. He wondered why she had gone for such a young look, but he didn't really care too much.

"Well, you see," she said, pacing, "although I may hate you, I hate G even more."

"Okay… So it's like that 'the enemy of my enemy' thing?"

"No… the enemy of my enemy is still my enemy. But I won't have _him _killing you…"

Cloud smirked. "And who would you _rather_ have kill me, then?"

"Well, Sephiroth, but that's not an option at the moment, so…"

Cloud sighed, shaking his head. "He's never going to kill me… He can't. I've beat him before, and I'll do it again when the time comes."

"He's been holding back, and you know it. If he wanted to kill you, he would. He just tends not to like to kill people without torturing them first… Ah, I've taught him well. But with you, that seems to be an issue."

"Well of course it is!"

Jenova looked Cloud in the eye, and he found himself unable to look away. She smirked. "Trust me, Cloud. With what's coming, you'll soon wish that you'd let him kill you the first time you two fought. But you seem insistent on making it to the end, so perhaps you will. But when you get there… If you continue to fight what's coming, Sephiroth's torture will seem like child's play. That is, if you can't _stop _what's coming."

Cloud narrowed his eyes as Jenova looked away. "Are you saying that there's a chance that I can win? That the light can defeat the darkness?"

Jenova paused, seeming to ignore him at first. "Yet everything seems…" She shook her head. "Maybe a _real_ light, even, never existed…"

"That seemed a bit cryptically random…"

Jenova shrugged. "It did? I tend to do that at times for no real reason. But it's true. You can't win if you never had a real side to begin with. If a true 'light' has ever existed… well, even then, you won't win. Especially not by yourself."

Cloud shook his head. "We'll do something. You'll see…"

Jenova smirked. "I'll be looking forward to your attempt. For now, good luck with your downfall, Cloud Strife…"

With that, Jenova leapt off into the night sky. Cloud sighed unhappily, walking back towards 7th Heaven and hoping that the next day couldn't possibly be any worse…


	14. Redemption

_**Alright, we're finally getting to the exciting part! Huh? Oh. Yes, yes, I know, but it was exciting for **_**me**_**… Oh, uh, sorry. Ignore that… Anyways, I've desperately wanted to do this part ever since I first started this story… Ooh, and we're almost to an even **_**better**_** part! Finally, I'll have some more freedom… Heh, alright. Back to the story…**_

* * *

_**Redemption**_

Cloud sighed as he woke up in the morning. He was still worried about the events of the day before, but knew that there was no real need to be scared.

Cloud suddenly remembered that he had ignored Sephiroth yesterday. Oh great… And now, G was just waiting for Cloud to go to Sephiroth. Well, then, Cloud would give him exactly what he wanted. It was about time Cloud found out what the hell was going on around here. But since Sephiroth didn't have his memories, would it be safe for Cloud to use him to get G to show himself? Was it even right for him to do? No… no, not really.

Eh, he'd get over it. Sephiroth had used Cloud multiple times in the past to get what he had wanted, so Cloud decided it was fair enough to use Sephiroth for once.

Tifa wasn't there, so Cloud realized he must have been the last one to wake up. He had just been so exhausted…

Cloud still couldn't get Jenova's words out of his head: "Yet everything seems… Maybe a _real_ light, even, never existed…" If she was right, then they were in serious trouble. But there had to be a 'real light' somewhere, right? Like the Lifestream, perhaps? Cloud had heard that the Lifestream had a conscious form – Minerva, or something – so…

Cloud sighed and got dressed for the day, walking downstairs. Shelke was already gone, and 7th Heaven was already open for business. Tifa and Denzel were working, and Marlene was over by herself at one of the tables.

Cloud walked over to Tifa and Denzel. "What's up with Marlene?"

Tifa shrugged. "I don't know, really… She's been avoiding us all morning…"

Cloud sighed unhappily. "Let me talk to her…"

Cloud walked over to Marlene, who didn't seem to notice him. He shook his head. "Marlene…?"

Marlene jumped. "Cloud! Oh, um, hi?"

Cloud shook his head. "What are you doing…?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to be alone… is that so strange?"

"For you? Yes."

Marlene shrugged. "Well… Sorry… I don't know what's been up with me lately…" Cloud noted that she was obviously hiding something, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to get her to speak.

"Um, Cloud? Don't you have somewhere to be? Your staring is making me a bit uncomfortable…"

Cloud shook his head. "Oh, sorry… But what's the rush? I don't really have anywhere to be at the moment…"

_**Oh yes you do. Go. Now.**_

Cloud froze, something that Marlene obviously noted, He sighed. He hadn't expected Jenova to speak in his mind anymore, after last night…

Cloud nodded. "Right, um, sorry… I just, uh, remembered that I _do _have somewhere to be..."

Marlene shrugged. "Right… Okay, see you later?"

Cloud nodded, but paused. "I… uh, Marlene? Last night… You seemed to know that woman. How?"

Marlene froze. "Oh, uh… I kind of…"

"The Cetra. Right? She let you know, I'm assuming? I saw your necklace…"

Marlene sighed, defeated. "Yeah, maybe… I'm not very good at hiding things, am I…? She refuses to tell me much, but… I know that the woman from last night was our enemy. Am I right?"

_**Great, I'm being told off by an eleven-year-old…**_

Cloud smiled slightly. "Yes, you're right. If you ever see her again, tell either me or Tifa. Alright?"

Marlene nodded. "You got it, Cloud. Now, um, bye?"

Cloud sighed and walked back over to Tifa, as Denzel was out taking orders. "Apparently, she's just a bit stressed about last night."

Tifa paused. "But… why? She has nothing to fear from G, right?"

Cloud realized that he had never told Tifa about Jenova. He desperately wanted to, but he didn't want her to get hurt… "Right, but it just seems to have freaked her out a bit."

Tifa nodded. "I can't blame her… Anyways, shouldn't you get going?"

Cloud nodded. "Right… See you later?"

Tifa smiled. "Of course. Don't get yourself killed before then, alright? Watch out for G… He may go after you and Sephiroth, and with Sephiroth's amnesia, things may not go your way…"

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, I know… But I have to take that chance. See you later, then."

Cloud walked out of 7th Heaven, immediately getting on Fenrir and taking off towards Midgar for an encounter he wasn't really sure he was looking forward to…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-

About an hour later, Cloud pulled to a stop in Midgar. "Sephiroth?" he called out, hoping that Sephiroth would find him like he always did.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Sephiroth to show up. He shook his head. "Hey, Cloud… "

Cloud realized that Sephiroth looked exhausted. Cloud actually realized for the first time that Sephiroth had seemed more tired with every day… Was he even getting any sleep lately? Of course, Cloud couldn't blame him if he wasn't. Midgar wasn't the easiest place to feel safe or comfortable in, especially now that it was kind of destroyed and everything…

Cloud shrugged. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry for not showing up yesterday… I had to help my friends with something that ended up taking up the entire day."

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'm not one to hold grudges…"

Cloud nodded, barely able to keep a straight face because of the absolute irony of that sentence. "So… what do you want to do? I've got nothing to do for a few more days, so…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I don't know…" Suddenly, though, he narrowed his eyes, looking around the razed surroundings. "There's something wrong here…"

Cloud nodded. "Yes. It was destroyed by a lunatic with incredible power. Your point?"

Sephiroth glared at Cloud. "That's not what I meant… Incredible power? Huh. That sucks for us, doesn't it? Unless they're dead, of course. Anyways… there's someone else here…"

"What do you mean...?"

"You know how you can feel like you're being watched?"

"Yeah?"

Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head. "Well, I felt as though someone has been watching me since probably about the time you got into Midgar, but it's as though they're close now… Does that make any sense?"

Cloud smirked, barely able to hide his excitement and worry. "Not at all. I would have heard anyone that would have been following me. And if they weren't following by land, they would have to be following me by air. And that's not possible… Hmm. I feel like I should be remembering something…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "You get used to it..."

Looking around the ruins of Midgar, Cloud couldn't see anyone. Or hear any movement. "There's nobody here, Sephiroth…"

Cloud wanted to think that G may finally show himself, but he ... about the time you got into Midgar, but It''at one of the use Sassumed who it was that was really watching them: Jenova.

_**No… it's not me… But there is someone there.**_ _**Wait… No… it couldn't be… **_**Oh, but it is**_**! Heh. Hehehehe. Finally… This'll be interesting.**_

"You're a bit demented," Cloud whispered. "You do know that, right?"

_**Not only do I know it; I'm proud of it.**_

Sephiroth looked over at Cloud. "Did you say something?"

Cloud shook his head. "No. I'll be right back… I should probably go make sure that nobody else is here."

Sephiroth nodded, and Cloud walked into an alleyway. He thought that he heard Sephiroth say something, but ignored it. Wait… had it even been Sephiroth talking…?

"Alright, alien. Tell me who it is, alright? Is it G?" Cloud said bitterly, not sure why he was suddenly so irritated.

_**Sheesh, you could be nicer… Yes, it is.**_

Cloud sighed. "Alright… So what if he attacks us?"

_**Uh, you're the one with the multitude of swords hidden in your bike. I'm probably too far away to help at the moment; a pity, as I'd like to kill that guy myself. Besides, I don't want Sephiroth to see me, as that may make him remember… You see, these are the times I almost wish I didn't take Sephy's memories; but I'll get over it.**_

"Why _did _you take his memories, anyways? At least tell me partially…"

Jenova was silent for a moment, but then sighed. _**I already told you that I'm testing him, right? I want to see how powerful he really is… He may not remember any **_**physical **_**memories, but if he doesn't remember any **_**feelings, **_**then that's an issue. With his power, he should be able to remember feelings from the past, even without any true memories. That is why I'm looking forward to what's about to happen… If Sephiroth doesn't hate G outright, and has completely forgotten him, then I'll be worried. Hopefully, though, he'll probably want to kill him and not understand why… Now go back, because I have a feeling that things are about to get interesting… And if not, then you probably should just leave…**_

Cloud shook his head unhappily, but walked back to Sephiroth. "There's nobody nearby, but I do get the feeling that there is someone watching us from somewhere…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Told you. But who…?"

"I don't know."

Sephiroth nodded. "Well… what exactly do you want to do? Maybe you should just go get some of your deliveries done early, as it would probably be boring for the two of us to sit here and basically do nothing."

"And you doing nothing by yourself is more entertaining?"

"Well, no, but I'd rather just _I _be bored than both of us."

Cloud sighed. Jenova _had _said to leave if nothing happened… "If you insist… See you tomorrow?"self is more entertaining?" get some of your deliveries done early, as it would probably be boring

"Yeah. Sure," Sephiroth said, starting to walk away. But he didn't get very far, as another voice stopped him dead in his tracks; a voice that Cloud recognized instantly from the day before.

"'My friend, do you fly away now? To a world that abhors you and I?'"

Cloud looked around, but didn't see anyone. Where was he…? And why was he quoting Loveless? Hadn't Zack said something about that…?

"'All that awaits you is a somber morrow, no matter where the winds may blow.' Especially since everyone here hates you now, just as much as I imagine _you_ hate _me_. Although, maybe not _as_ much…"

Sephiroth didn't say anything. He didn't move at all. He simply stood there. But Cloud already had the main part of the Fusion Swords out and at the ready.

A third person dropped down from the sky. He was wearing a red leather trench-coat thing over the black uniform that SOLDIER members wore. The black leather shoulder pads on his outfit were torn, but he didn't look ragged or anything. He had shaggy brown hair that had gotten a bit darker since the last time Cloud had seen him. His skin was still pale, but it wasn't as deathly pale as when Cloud had last seen him.

"Genesis…" Cloud growled underneath his breath. How had he forgotten about Genesis? 'G' for Genesis! Of course!

Cloud had only ever truly seen Genesis once before, and that had been way back when Cloud and his deceased friend Zack were on the run from Shinra after escaping from the laboratories. Cloud had been half-unconscious, but he still remembered when Zack had brought Genesis's fallen form out from a cave of some sort. Cloud had thought that Genesis was dead until he made a comment to Zack about an apple or something. When Zack had taken Cloud towards Midgar and towards that fateful day, Cloud hadn't been certain of Genesis's fate. However, it seemed that he was alive and well.

Sephiroth still wasn't saying anything. He obviously had some kind of subconscious recollection of what had happened so long ago… But, in all truth, Cloud himself wasn't exactly certain what had happened. He had some of Zack's memories, but he could only vaguely recall what role Genesis had had in Sephiroth's insanity. But thanks to Jenova, he did know at least _some_ of what had happened. And now, because Genesis was back, Sephiroth may very well remember everything. And that would be probably the worst possible thing that could happen with so much going on at the moment…

"Sephiroth?" Genesis asked, and Cloud shook his head.

"He doesn't remember his past."

Genesis smirked. "Ah, yes. I forgot that I was told that by Je-"

"Umm, maybe you shouldn't mention that name…" Cloud cut in before Genesis could say Jenova's name. Jenova was being unexpectedly quiet, and Cloud was a bit worried…

_**Shut up, I'm trying to watch…**_

Cloud kept himself from reacting, but noted that Jenova was being serious for one of the first times…

Genesis smiled slyly. "If he doesn't remember who she is, then perhaps things can finally go my way…"

Cloud shook his head. "Are you so heartless? You immediately think of how his amnesia can work to your advantage, and _your _advantage only."

"And you didn't?"

"No! I thought of how this may help me protect the Planet, but nothing more!"

Genesis smirked. "Say whatever you want. Now, Sephiroth? Have you forgotten how to speak as well, or something?"

Sephiroth took a shaky breath. "No. What do you want? And… why do I hate you so much?"

Genesis shrugged, smiling. "Ah, well, you see, that's quite a long story."

"I have time." Sephiroth finally turned around. Cloud had never seen so much hatred and despair in his eyes; the fact that the two emotions were both present was quite surprising, as they seemed so opposite and so extremely strong. How had Sephiroth remembered such hatred towards Genesis, and yet not Cloud? And how was Sephiroth acting so calm? If Cloud hadn't seen the look in his eyes, he would have thought that Sephiroth was perfectly calm and collected, just like always.

_**Alright, good… I was a bit worried because he was being so calm… **_  
Genesis seemed a bit surprised by Sephiroth's obvious emotions as well. But he smiled again. "Ah, it's been a while since I've seen you show any emotions. It's quite a relief, actually, that you haven't completely lost your humanity. At least one of us hasn't…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I don't understand. Lost my humanity? How could I…? What happened in my past, exactly?"

Cloud couldn't find the will to say anything, so he just let Genesis continue.

Genesis shrugged. "Hmm… Well, I was being held captive for most of the time that everything happened with you, but I heard stories. However, perhaps it would be best that you didn't know for now… You know, I must say. Without your memories, you're much less guarded. It shows me how defenseless you really are when you don't keep people at a distance."

_He was being held captive…? _Cloud thought to himself. _By who? And why?_

Sephiroth smirked. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Genesis shrugged. "Well, you never let anyone in on what you were thinking or feeling. You always kept your emotions to yourself, and you never even truly let your two actual friends in… You could be yourself around us, but you never truly were. And you didn't really trust anyone, I think. You never trusted even _us_ completely, and you always seemed to feel like you needed to prove yourself. You never let your emotions out, as you most likely didn't want anyone to find you weak. And that's part of what led to your downfall, in the end…"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "My downfall? What's that supposed to mean? And why do I get the feeling that you had quite a large role to play in it as well?" Sephiroth was starting to finally lose his calm composure, which was something Cloud had never thought he would truly see. What exactly had Genesis done…?

Genesis sighed. "It doesn't really matter right now. Let's just say that I've had quite a lot of time to think since we last met. And now… I don't know, really. I guess I kind of long to make up for what I've done. Or at least try."

_**Oh, so he's **_**longing**_** for **_**redemption**_**? That's incredibly ironic for reasons you won't understand. But, also… That's not what he told me two days ago… I wonder which one of us he's lying to…?**_

Cloud assumed that it had been Jenova that Genesis was lying to, as he seemed actually quite sincere. But that didn't mean that he wasn't going to become an enemy within an instant…

Sephiroth sighed. "You can try, but I don't see how, if I don't even remember what you did…"

Cloud shook his head. "Genesis… Maybe you should stop talking…"

Genesis narrowed his eyes at Cloud. He then pulled out his blood-red rapier, pointing it at Cloud's throat. "No, maybe _you _should stop talking. You may have a part in all of this, but for now I'm only trying to make things right with Sephiroth."

Cloud held up the part of the Fusion Swords that he was holding, pointing it at Genesis. "Yes, but that very well may end up in him remembering much that he shouldn't remember. For his sake as well as ours."

Sephiroth looked a bit freaked out. "Um… Can you guys please put away the swords? I don't want to get caught up in a fight…"

Genesis smirked. "Not until Cloud steps down."

Cloud shrugged. "Well, good luck with that, because I won't step down."

_**Uh, Cloud? Step down. I don't want Sephiroth to get hurt… Normally I wouldn't really care, but Genesis is powerful. And I still need Sephiroth, although I don't like to admit ever needing the help of others. But it's the truth, and Sephiroth can't exactly defend himself at the moment…**_

"I'll defend him if I need to," Cloud muttered quietly enough so that Sephiroth couldn't hear him and Genesis would barely be able to make out his words. But Genesis still smiled slightly.

"Talking to the enemy, are we?"

Cloud shook his head. "It's none of you business either way. So are you going to step down or not?"

"Not." Genesis pulled back and attempted to strike Cloud. His strike wouldn't have hurt Cloud too badly, as he was probably just trying to show Cloud that he was serious. However, the strike didn't hit Cloud. Instead, it hit Sephiroth.

Sephiroth had jumped in front of Cloud just in time, letting Genesis's strike hit his arm. It didn't seem to have wounded him too badly, but that didn't really matter.

Genesis pulled back instantly, and Cloud stared at Sephiroth. "You… why…?"

Sephiroth smirked, holding his arm. "You're the only one who has really helped me, Cloud. I don't want you to get hurt because of me…"

_**Whoa, now **_**that **_**I wasn't truly expecting. I knew he would hate Genesis, but I didn't know he would help **_**you**_**… Huh. I suppose he either doesn't remember his feelings of hatred for you, or he put them aside when you started helping him. Either way, I hope he goes back to normal when I finally give him his memories back… Although, that won't be for a while…**_

Cloud shook his head, ignoring Jenova. "Oh, um, thanks…"

Genesis looked a bit startled still. "I… I didn't mean to… you didn't give me enough time to pull back…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I didn't intend to. Listen, Genesis. Cloud is my friend, like it or not. If you want to talk to me, then you're going to have to tolerate him. Alright?"

Genesis sighed, but nodded. "Fine… I suppose it shouldn't be too hard, really. I have been watching you _both _for a while…"

Cloud shook his head. "Wait a minute… I remember Marlene – my friend's adoptive daughter, who is living with us – told me that she heard someone on the roof a few days ago… Was that you?"

He nodded. "Yes, it was. She almost caught me, too…"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "You were spying on Cloud…?"

"Yes."

Sephiroth sighed, turning away. Cloud noted that he was still holding his arm, which Genesis seemed to realize at the exact same time.

Genesis shook his head. "Oh, uh… Here… Give me your arm…"

Sephiroth looked at him warily, and Genesis shook his head. "I have healing Materia… You may hate me, but I don't really hate you…"

Sephiroth nodded and gave Genesis his arm. Genesis quickly healed him, and Sephiroth pulled away as soon as he was done. "Thanks… And it's not that I hate you, because I don't remember why I feel as though I should. But… I don't _not _hate you either, because even though I don't remember exactly what happened, I do remember feeling betrayed… Is that a correct feeling? Or is that mixed up as well…?"

Genesis sighed. "No… You have a right to feel betrayed. I was desperate, and I wasn't exactly in my right mind at that moment… Degradation can do that to you… But I assure you, I'm perfectly sane right now. I've had six years to think about what I've done – it didn't occur to me during the previous four – and I know now that I shouldn't have said what I did… Which I guess you don't really remember, do you?"

Sephiroth shook his head, smirking. "No. No, I don't. But I've never felt this strongly about something from my past, which is surprising since all I can remember are feelings. So know that I don't truly forgive you, even if I don't know what it is you did. But since I don'tremember, perhaps that can work to both of our advantage. Perhaps we can start over…? Because I don't like feeling such hatred towards anyone…"

Genesis nodded, smiling slightly. "Yes, I would like that. But… I don't know when I can come back to actually 'start over', because I have a lot left unfinished." Genesis looked over at Cloud. "You see, Cloud… the degradation wasn't the only thing affecting me that day… There was actually one person in particular who I needed to become a bit insane to escape from… And I believe you know her quite well."

Cloud nodded. "That makes sense…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Who? Is it Tifa? Because she scares me quite a bit…"

Cloud laughed slightly. "No, no, not Tifa. But, speaking of _her_… I haven't actually heard from her in a while… I do wonder where the person you're talking about is…"

_**Huh? Oh, sorry. Yeah… I kind of wanted to get everyone on my side that day… But hey, it worked out for me in the end… But **_**sheesh**_**, Sephiroth actually forgave Genesis? Maybe I'll give him his memories a bit sooner than I was going to… I can't stand him being so… **_**nice. **

Cloud sighed, looking over at Genesis and nodding. "Actually, I do think that I understand exactly what you mean…"

Genesis nodded. "I don't think of you as too much of an ally, Cloud Strife, but at least you understand where I'm coming from. And we have a common enemy. And a common ally. Sort of."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah… I'm not truly ready to accept you as an actual ally as well, especially because of yesterday…"

"Oh, yeah… But hey, at least I didn't kill you…"

"Oh yes, and that completely excuses the fact that you knocked me out and left me in a cave for eight hours…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "He did _what _to you?"

Genesis shrugged. "What? You wanted to know too much…"

Cloud sighed. "And how is it _you _know so much?"

"Ah, Cloud… I've spent many years deciphering Loveless, and there are many clues hidden in its pages… Some of them a bit more depressing than others. 'Legend shall speak of sacrifice at world's end'… That can only mean one thing…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I get it… Well, we shouldn't think about it now."

"Right… No, _now_ I need to get going. I need to find _her… _and I need to end this, once and for all."

Cloud shook his head. "You can't. She has an ally… I don't know who, but they're incredibly powerful. And they're… well, I don't know. Trying to take over the Planet, I guess."

"Then I'll die knowing I've tried, and knowing that I've hopefully at least partially made up for my past mistakes. I'm fine with that; I've learned that death isn't something to run from."

Cloud sighed. "Right…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "That seems a bit morbid… I know that there are many things going on that I don't quite understand, but are there truly such terrible things happening? I mean, who would want to harm the Planet? And why?"

They both stared at him, and Cloud shook his head. "I ask myself that every day, trust me…"

Genesis sighed. "I need to get going… But I'll be watching the both of you, when I can."

Cloud shrugged. "Alright…"

Genesis nodded. He then swiftly extended his one black wing – which had appeared from nowhere – startling Cloud and startling Sephiroth far more. He simply stared at Genesis, who smirked.

"What? Like you've never seen someone with one wing that appears from nowhere."

Sephiroth tilted his head. "What are you, exactly?"

Genesis smiled slightly. "I've been trying to completely figure that out myself."

Sephiroth sighed. "This is all getting a bit too weird for me… I'm not so sure that I know exactly what I'm getting myself into…"

"You should have thought of that five years ago. But it's far too late now to turn back. You may not remember your past, but you're still a part of this."

Sephiroth shook his head. "I… But shouldn't I know what happened? How am I supposed to help if I don't know what's going on?"

"The past doesn't matter. All that matters now is the future. Cloud will prepare you for what's coming… although I'm not sure how well that'll help you, but it's better than nothing. If nothing else, he needs to re-teach you how to fight. But the past is a subject you should drop; forgetting is a blessing. So many of us wish we could forget all that has happened to this Planet, but none of us ever have that wish fulfilled. You, though, don't know how lucky you are…"

"I don't _feel _lucky. I _hate _feeling as though I'm the only one who doesn't get everything… You don't know how hard it is. I have all of these strong feelings, but no physical memories to attach them to."

Genesis nodded. "Yes, perhaps that is frustrating. But trust me when I say that you don't want to know what has happened. You should look to the future, for that is where your true destiny lies. Whatever is coming is far more important than anything that has happened before, and that's all that matters. This is going to be the last battle, the last standoff between good and evil. And who wins is up to all of us. If you keep worrying about the past, you will never be able to succeed in the future."

Cloud shook his head. "You spend too much time reading Loveless. But… You're right. Sephiroth… I'll do my best to help you. But please, just forget about the past."

Sephiroth paused. "I…" But he smiled and nodded. "Alright. As long as I have you to watch out for me, I guess you're right. The past doesn't matter; all that matters now is the future. But you're going to have to at _least _tell me when something _present_ is happening…"

Cloud nodded. "I will. For now, though, I think it is about time we all got some rest… I didn't realize how late it was… Why does time seem to vanish lately?"

Genesis shrugged. "I don't know, but… Ah, well, it doesn't matter. Goodbye, you two."

Without another word, Genesis leapt into the air, heading off towards wherever.

_**Finally… Hmmm, that didn't exactly go as I planned… Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter. I suppose I couldn't have expected different results. As to training Sephiroth for what's coming… perhaps you should. I hate seeing him so weak… Without his memories, he has no hope of defending himself if the need arises. So you probably **_**should **_**re-train him with a sword… Now, anyways… I need to be going…**_

Cloud sighed, turning back towards Sephiroth. "Well, that was…"

"Yeah. Right. I don't even really know what just happened. But… It _is _getting late… And honestly, I'm exhausted."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I noticed. Are you getting any sleep, lately? You've seemed more tired with every day…"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course. How could I not be? Although I'm not getting very _good _sleep, because this place kind of freaks me out…"

"Yeah… Well, bye, I guess. See you tomorrow?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah, hopefully. And maybe you can even train me, just like Genesis suggested. Although honestly, I doubt that I'd be any good with a sword…"

Cloud almost laughed, but kept a straight face. "Ah, we'll see. I don't know, really. I may bring Tifa back tomorrow, as we'll probably need to discuss this all…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Really…? I seriously think she wants to murder me…"

"I don't know why…" Cloud knew exactly why, of course, but Sephiroth couldn't know that he had killed Tifa's father and tried to kill her as well…

Sephiroth sighed. "Ah, it doesn't matter. I'll see you both tomorrow, then."

Cloud nodded. He realized that he was still holding a part of the Fusion Swords, so he quickly put it back in Fenrir and closed the secret compartments. He then leapt on Fenrir, looking over at Sephiroth. "Alright. See you tomorrow… I promise, I'll do my best to keep Tifa from killing you."

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "I'll hold you to that. Alright, good night, Cloud." Sephiroth walked off, and Cloud sighed.

Cloud looked up at the sky. "Minerva, goddess of the Lifestream… If you can hear me, please, guide me… I don't know if I can do this all by myself… Or, at least, I don't know if I'll be able to help Sephiroth without accidentally giving him his memories back… So, please. Please, guide me."

Cloud didn't hear a response, but he didn't expect to. He did, however, feel as though his words were heard. Was the Planet truly listening to him? Was that even possible, since he wasn't a Cetra?

Cloud sighed and kicked Fenrir into gear, immediately speeding back towards 7th Heaven. He had so much to tell Tifa…


	15. Unknown Soldier

**A/N: This is one of those instances. Just saying, chapter 15 seemed so far away when I started this. Now that it's here, it feels like the story went almost **_**too **_**fast… But oh well. The story itself isn't over (I decided that I'm going to keep going), but it's going to be a bit different after this chapter… Also, thanks so much to the reviewers and readers! ((FUTRE EDIT YES I SPELLED FUTURE WRONG: I FINALLY FOUND IT! I USED 'your' INSTEAD OF 'you're' WHEN TIFA SAYS 'Maybe he just wants to make sure YOU'RE safe.' I SAW IT MONTHS AGO AND FORGOT WHERE IT WAS, I FINALLY FIXED IT, HAHAHAHA!)) And I don't own Breaking Benjamin or their song, or FF7. Alright, now to the narrator…**

* * *

_**Huh? Oh. Hello again. You know what? I love dramatic irony. So I'm going to let you in on a little secret…**_

* * *

_**Unknown Soldier**_

Cloud looked around as he walked into 7th Heaven. Tifa and Shelke were there, but Marlene and Denzel were obviously already upstairs.

Tifa shook her head. "Hey, how did things go?"

Cloud sighed. "Well, um… Shelke? I met G."

Tifa and Shelke froze. Shelke stood up, rushing over to Cloud. "What? Who is he? Are you okay? And what about Sephiroth?"

Cloud shook his head. "I'm fine, and so is Sephiroth. G is Sephiroth's old friend, SOLDIER 1st Class Genesis Rhapsodos."

Tifa looked startled. "Oh yeah, I remember something about him… How could I forget?"

Cloud shrugged. "I forgot, too. But it doesn't matter now. I can't tell whose side he's on, but it doesn't seem like he's much of an enemy. Kind of. He seems mainly to want to stop Jenova… But I don't think we should really trust him yet. However, I doubt that he's any threat to the Planet."

Shelke sighed. "But… what about Weiss? Didn't Vincent say that Weiss fell into the same place that Genesis had been in?"

"He said that that was what he _thought. _Why would Genesis need Weiss? He should know that Weiss isn't someone to be messed with…"

Shelke shrugged. "Who knows? But Weiss held him in high standards… Oh, I don't know. You don't want to mess with Genesis, though. There's more going on here than we probably think… a _lot _more."

Tifa nodded. "Right. So… What now, then?"

Cloud shrugged. "Get some rest? There's really nothing else to do."

Shelke sighed. "But… Hey, did you hear that?"

Cloud shook his head. "Hear…?"

"Something on the roof…"

Cloud nodded. "Oh. Genesis. He must have found time…"

Tifa paused. "'Found time'?"

"Oh, yeah. He said that he was watching us… but only if he found time. He's probably making sure we don't become allies with Jenova…"

"Ah, that makes sense…"

Cloud shrugged. "Although, honestly, I think he should be paying more attention to Sephiroth… Without his memories, Sephiroth is in far much more danger than we are…"

Shelke nodded. "Yeah… But you seriously think that Genesis would stay up all night to watch us?"

Cloud shook his head. "Probably only until we fall asleep. I doubt that even Genesis could stay up all night every night… That wouldn't be good for anyone. Plus, I assume he would have been exhausted if he was _always _watching us. And he didn't seem very tired today… Genesis doesn't seem like the type that would go out of his way to simply watch us. Why would he, anyways? It seems a bit unlikely that he would watch us all night just to make sure that we weren't an ally of Jenova…"

Tifa shook her head. "But… what if that's not why he's watching us?"

"Why else would he be watching us…?"

Tifa thought for a moment. "Well… what if Genesis feels guilty? Maybe he wants to make sure you're safe?"

Cloud shook his head. "No… No, that's impossible. He didn't seem very remorseful towards me… I mean, he _is _partially the reason for Zack's death and my near-death about twenty times, but… He didn't seem guilty. Towards me, at least."

"Yes, but if I'm remembering correctly, wasn't Genesis obsessed with Loveless? He'd probably become a good actor, after reading and seeing the play so many times…"

"Is that… is that possible?"

"You can go ask him…"

"No, thanks. But if you're right… Then there's a lot going on that I never thought about… And Weiss? Do you think that, perhaps, Genesis _did _take him?"

Shelke nodded almost instantly. "I… I know Weiss's presence. He had been in that cavern at one point or another… Genesis must have taken him. But… why?"

Cloud shook his head, sighing. "I… I don't know. But… Hmm, I wonder if Jenova does… too bad she stopped talking to me back in Midgar…"

"Why?"

"Who knows…? She probably had to talk to someone again… Or go after Genesis. Either way, she's not listening to me right now… I think."

Shelke shook her head. "I wonder who she's talking to…"

Cloud shrugged. "Her leader, probably. But I don't know for sure…"

Tifa sighed. "We'll figure it out… For now, though, we should get some rest and let Genesis do his own thing."

Cloud nodded, but then paused. "Oh, um… Tifa? Can you come with me tomorrow?"

"…What?"

"I kind of need your help… Jenova and Genesis both want me to teach Sephiroth how to fight again, and I don't know how to do it without reminding him about his past… I was thinking you may be able to help?"

Tifa sighed unhappily. "Fine, fine… But can we not take Fenrir tomorrow? Can't we just take that truck that we have? Riding Fenrir always makes me slightly sick…"

Cloud paused. "Oh, yeah, sure… I forgot about that thing… Yeah, we'll drive there regularly if you want. Make sure that there's nothing in the back, though…"

Tifa smiled slightly. "Of course. Now… Shall we go upstairs?" She froze. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot… There was another woman here today, talking to Marlene… But she wasn't the same woman from before. She had brown hair and green eyes, actually kind of similar to Aerith. But it couldn't have been Aerith, right…? Anyways, she looked fairly normal, but she seemed to know Marlene quite well, and I've never seen her before, I think… They went outside at one point, and Marlene came back in by herself."

Cloud shook his head. "Another Cetra…? Where are they all coming from? Ugh, I'm so confused…"

Tifa nodded. "So am I… But I doubt Marlene will tell us anything…"

Cloud shrugged. "Maybe I can talk to her… For now, though, we should get some sleep."

Tifa and Shelke nodded, and all three of them went upstairs. Tifa and Shelke went into their rooms, but Cloud said that he wanted to make sure that Marlene and Denzel were alright. Maybe he could get Marlene to talk…

Denzel was already deeply asleep, but Marlene was a different story. In fact, she was actually just about to go up to the roof.

Marlene froze as soon as Cloud saw her. Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Marlene… what were you doing…?"

"Um… nothing?"

"You were going up to the roof, weren't you?"

"The roof? No! No, I, uh…"

Cloud sighed. "You know about Genesis, don't you?"

"Genesis?"

"Drop it, Marlene. How many secrets are you keeping? You're not very good at hiding things…"

Marlene looked away. "I… Alright, you found me out. Alright? You know everything. I always have my satchel because I put the Cetra's necklace in there when I'm not wearing it. And I know that Sephiroth is back, without his memories. I know about this Genesis guy, who apparently stalks us on the roof." She paused. "Although, I could have _sworn_… Is Genesis related to Sephiroth?"

Cloud paused. "In a way. He and Sephiroth both have the same thing in their blood, although Genesis still has many traces of human blood."

She nodded. "Ah. That makes sense. That's why I thought it was… Oh, never mind. But I know a lot, alright?"

"And the other Cetra? The woman from today?"

Marlene froze. Cloud saw the despair in her eyes. She shook her head, her voice very careful and a bit monotonous. "Yes… She wanted to talk to me… You know that she's from the Lifestream, then?"

"Yes, I do. What was her name?"

Marlene shook her head. "I can't tell you. But… You know her. That's all I can say."

Cloud sighed. "I know you must have your reasons… Isn't there _anything _you can tell me about your conversation?"

"Well…" Marlene sighed. "She said that the White Materia can be used once to bring someone back from the brink of death. She said that you need to find it, and fast. But she doesn't know where it is… the Forgotten City would probably be the best place."

"It always comes back to the White Materia… Alright, I'll do my best to find it soon. So… Is there anything else you're not telling me?"

"I…" Marlene sighed. "There _is_ something, but… she told me that I can't tell you."

"Does it have to do with the fact that you're always energetic?"

"Yes. But, Cloud… Please, don't exclude me from anything. I have a part in this; I _know_ it."

Cloud nodded. "Fine, I'll try. But… Have you ever actually _met _Genesis?"

"No. He always hides from me. But I know that he's there."

Cloud sighed unhappily. "So you've known all along…"

"I overheard you talking to Tifa the first night everything happened… That's the first time I heard Genesis and went up to the roof."

Cloud nodded. "Oh… Alright, well… I think you should get some sleep. Alright?"

"I- Oh, fine. But… What's going on, Cloud? With Sephiroth?"

"I… I'll tell you later."

"No you won't. Fine. I'll figure it out by myself."

Cloud shook his head. "Marlene, please… You may be being protected by a Cetra, but you still shouldn't take any risks. Please? This is far too dangerous, and the people we're dealing with… There's no guarantee that they still won't harm you."

"But… Oh, alright. I know, but still… I know what I'm doing, Cloud. Trust me. I know that I'm safe."

Cloud sighed. "Just be careful. Now please, go to bed. Because _I_ can't until I know you're safe."

Marlene nodded. "Alright. Good night, Cloud…" Marlene turned and walked into her room. Cloud waited for a few minutes to make sure that she wouldn't come back out before turning and walking back into his room. He wasn't sure whether or not Genesis was still there, but he knew that he was safe.

Cloud got ready for bed and turned off the lights, looking out the window. Was Genesis gone yet? Maybe he'd go and check later…

Ah, if only he knew what was _really _going on…

* * *

_**Alright! The end!**_

_**Haha, no, I'm just kidding. I'm not **_**that **_**evil. And what, you thought that Marlene knowing was the secret? Or perhaps the fact that Genesis **_**may**_** feel guilty about what he indirectly did to Cloud? I said 'dramatic irony', didn't I? If Cloud knows, then that's not dramatic irony… Now, you may or may not have guessed this already, but…**_

* * *

Sure, perhaps Cloud thought that Marlene only had one secret left. And sure, Cloud may think that it was Genesis watching him. Genesis _had _been watching him for many nights. Genesis _had _been up there when Marlene had heard someone on the roof. But he hadn't been the only one up there.

And he sure wasn't up there now. No, now it was someone else. Now, it was Cloud's true unknown guardian angel that was up there. The unknown soldier that felt such a guilt for his partially unwilling past that he hadn't slept once since he had gotten back, as he was making certain that Cloud was safe. It was the one person who had truly caused so much pain in Cloud's past… someone that had never had control of his own destiny. Someone that probably would have re-written the past, if he could.

Someone who had forgotten _nothing_ of his past, even though he wished he could.

Sephiroth – who was back in his normal leather armor outfit with Masamune by his side, and his eyes and skin back to normal – watched Cloud turn off the lights. Sephiroth sat back against the chimney on top of 7th Heaven, so extremely exhausted that he wasn't sure he could go much longer without collapsing. He'd only made it these past few weeks by drawing small amounts of energy from Cloud and the others when he desperately needed to, which was why Cloud got so exhausted at times. But he felt guilty about taking even such a little amount of their energy…

Sephiroth sighed tiredly, closing his eyes. He knew that Marlene knew exactly who she had been talking to that one night. Sephiroth also knew that Marlene was right with what she had said to him. He knew that he could never change… but that wasn't his fault. He had no say in what he did. If he ever resisted, Jenova would just take him over until he finally realized that there was no escaping. Sephiroth had finally just learned to go along with whatever those above him told him to do. It would save him a lot of pain, in the long run. But now, the least Sephiroth could do was make sure that Cloud was safe; Sephiroth didn't really care about himself, anymore.

Sephiroth knew that everyone around him was doing their best to fight the coming darkness. Even Genesis…

Ah, Genesis. Sephiroth wasn't sure how he had gotten through that encounter without destroying something; most likely Genesis himself. Sephiroth remembered that day more than anything else. Genesis didn't even know what he had truly done to Sephiroth. Genesis had betrayed him, and left him mentally defenseless against Jenova. Perhaps, if Genesis hadn't been so cruel, Sephiroth may have been able to resist Jenova. But he had been in such a state of shock and despair that he hadn't been able to do anything, and he had never been able to defy her since. But he didn't care anymore. He knew that his destiny had always been to be nothing more than a powerful puppet for the darkness, and so he had come to accept that. He could probably win in a fight against Jenova, but then he'd have to face her leader. He wouldn't be able to face both of them… Plus, he actually sort of enjoyed being evil, at times; especially when he let go of himself and just lost control. Like Genesis had said, Sephiroth had never let his emotions out. Now, he could take his anger and frustration out on whoever the hell he wanted; even the Planet itself.

But even so, Sephiroth still knew deep within himself that he shouldn't be trying to destroy the Planet. That was why he was always trying to give Cloud as many subtle clues as he could, hoping that Jenova wouldn't catch him. She had only caught him twice; once when Sephiroth had 'accidentally' run into Cloud, and once at the Forgotten City. Of course, his clue at the Forgotten City was pretty obvious, but still… He had hoped that Cloud would have realized by now that Sephiroth hadn't forgotten anything. After all, Sephiroth had said Cloud's name without ever being told it, which Cloud didn't seem to have caught. He had done the same with Shelke; Cloud had never said her name in front of Sephiroth, and yet she had believed so easily that he had. Of course, Sephiroth had been slightly controlling her thought pattern, just like he could do with really anyone now; Cloud should have noticed that Sephiroth always hid his eyes when someone seemed to think something that they shouldn't be thinking. Sephiroth's eyes always went back to normal when he controlled someone's thoughts, even if he was only suggesting something to them that they took to the next level by themselves…

_**Hello? Are you even listening to me? **_

Sephiroth winced. He remembered the first time she had said that; the first time he had resisted her… Not the best memory… _Oh, uh, right… What?_

Jenova sighed. _**Sheesh. You need to get some rest… Anyways, I was **_**saying **_**that I'm surprised you didn't kill Genesis…**_

_What's the point? I'll figure out a use for him… Plus, we _were _friends once…_

_**Yes, the key term being 'once'. And then your 'friend' left you defenseless while knowing that I would come after **_**you**_** as soon as I knew I couldn't break **_**him.**

Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head and looking around. _Yes, and then you broke _me _instead. Must you keep on reminding me of that? Besides, he was desperate. He was slowly dying… Ah, never mind. You're right, I know. Now can't you just leave me alone for a minute? _

_**You wouldn't be so tired if you slept, or just took their energy for yourself without worry, like I do. **_

_No. To both of those. It's my fault that Cloud is in this much danger, and I won't make things worse than they are until later. The least I can do is protect him, for now…_

_**And what will you do when he finally gets attacked in front of you and can't defend himself? You can't let him know you remember the past. But you also can't let him die, yet…**_

Sephiroth shrugged. He didn't really know _why _Jenova wanted to keep Cloud alive if she only had plans to kill him later; it would probably be in her best interests just to kill him outright. But she obviously had a use for him, so Sephiroth wasn't allowed to kill his enemy... yet. _Maybe not. But if it's either reveal the truth or let Cloud die, I'm going to reveal the truth. If I don't, there may not be a reason to keep lying, as there's no point if Cloud is dead._

_**True… Ah, fine. I'll leave you alone for now… **_

Sephiroth nodded, sighing. Then, though, he heard someone coming up the stairs.

Sephiroth darted behind the chimney, noting that it was Cloud. What was he doing up here…? He must have thought it was Genesis or something…

Cloud looked around, trying to figure out if anyone was there.

_**Need some help?**_

_No._

_**Yes, you do. Just give me a second…**_

Sephiroth shook his head, making no sound. Jenova could be incredibly annoying at times, but at least she could be helpful at the same time. _What are you going to do…? If you say something to him, he may become suspicious…_

_**Oh, I'm not going to say anything to him… Did I mention that the little brunette girl – Malrene or something-**_

_Marlene._

_**Oh, uh, right… Well, Marlene is being helped by… a Cetra?**_

_What?_

_**Yeah, I meant to tell you. Sorry, sort of… Anyways, I may be able to get the Cetra to warn her… and Marlene will hear Cloud up on the roof…**_

_Ah. Got it…_

Suddenly, though, Cloud started to walk over to the chimney. Sephiroth shook his head. If Cloud found him, Sephiroth wasn't sure what he would do… He couldn't _kill_ Cloud, but maybe if Sephiroth could hit him hard enough…

Just as Cloud was about to find Sephiroth, Marlene's innocent voice rang from downstairs. "Cloud?"

Cloud froze. Sephiroth could feel his confusion. Ah, the perks of being an empath…

Sephiroth saw Marlene come up to the roof, and Cloud sighed. "Marlene…?"

Marlene nodded. "Oh, okay… I just wanted to make sure you were safe… I don't know. I was almost asleep, but… well, I guess I just got worried all of a sudden… I don't know why…"

Sephiroth smirked slightly at Cloud's cautious look. "Was it the Cetra?"

"I…" Sephiroth realized that Marlene looked over at where he was before looking back at Cloud and nodding. "Yeah, I think so. So… can you please just go to sleep? I don't want anything to go wrong…"

_Hmm… You weren't lying. There really _is _a Cetra helping her… But… does she know about me? She seemed to realize I was here… _

_**When do **_**I**_** lie to **_**you? **_**I mean, come on. You're helping us take over the universe, right? So there's no need to lie to you… And yes, I think she knows.**_

Sephiroth shook his head. She _did _keep secrets from him. For example, he all but knew that Jenova wasn't his _real _mother, but she wouldn't say one way or the other. So he knew that she was capable of keeping secrets… However, she wasn't very good at it, so… _If she knows, why isn't she telling Cloud?_

_**Who knows? Although I assume that it has something to do with the Cetra… **_

Cloud nodded. "Oh, um, sure…"

Marlene looked over at where Sephiroth was again, making Sephiroth shake his head. _How does she know where I am?_

_**Who knows…? Maybe she heard you. **_

_Maybe…_

Marlene shook her head unhappily. She looked confused, but… was she really? Or did she truly know who Sephiroth was, and that he was there? He highly doubted that she thought that he was Genesis…

There was something… _different _about Marlene, though. He felt the power of a Cetra around her, yes, but it was stronger than he thought it would be. What Cetra was protecting her, exactly? It couldn't be Aerith… could it?

Marlene led Cloud back downstairs, and Sephiroth sighed unhappily. He should understand everything that was going on, and yet he didn't. Why? Why was _he _being kept in the dark? What could possibly be going on that he didn't know about?

Sephiroth sat down again, looking up at the stars. It was such a large universe… and yet Sephiroth knew that Jenova and the person she was working with wanted to take the entire thing over. Would they be able to accomplish such a feat…? Sephiroth didn't find it to be that hard to believe, really. In fact, he was _certain _that they could do it. But… could he let that happen? Could he really just let the entire universe be ruled by evil, even if _he _was one of those rulers…?

Sephiroth sighed. He couldn't think about that now. It was far too late to turn back, just like Genesis had said. He was evil, and that was that. Sure, maybe things weren't _so _simple, but they should be. If he ever doubted that, Jenova would set him straight, which was something he could rely on. Jenova was _truly _evil, so there would never be any difficulties determining which side _she _was on. Sephiroth knew he should act like that as well, but he just couldn't. However, he would never be accepted by the 'light' or the Planet again, so there was no changing that fact. Jenova and her ally had damned him, and he was becoming fine with that.

But… Why did Sephiroth feel as though there was _so much_ _more _going on than what he thought?


	16. Dance With the Devil

**A/N: Disclaimer: Even though the chapter itself doesn't have anything to do with the song, I again do **_**not **_**own Breaking Benjamin or any of their songs. And, now that I'm saying it, I also do **_**not **_**own Evanescence, whose songs I've alluded to once or twice. Oh, and a quick note to you the readers: I'm going to be switching the POV a**_** lot **_**in this chapter. Even though I let you know when I switch (since this is 3****rd**** person limited), I just thought I should make a note of it ahead of Time. Now… back to the narrator.**

* * *

_**Thanks. So… Now you know one of many secrets I've yet to reveal to you. I know, it may have been better for me to have kept it a secret and to have kept you guessing, but there are still many, **_**many **_**secrets left for you to find out. And one or two that I'm fairly certain you will **_**not **_**see coming… After all, none of **_**us**_** did. Even **_**I **_**didn't, which is saying something… Alright, where were we? Oh, yes. Cloud and Tifa going to try to 'teach' Sephiroth how to fight… Now that you know, this will be a fun chapter, won't it? Heh…**_

* * *

_**Dance With the Devil**_

Cloud shook his head, looking out of the window not long after he had woken up. What had happened last night, exactly…? There had been someone up on the roof – Genesis, hopefully – but Marlene had come up at the wrong time. Why had the Cetra warned her, if it really _had _been Genesis? Had somebody been watching him? Or maybe Jenova had intervened. But the latter was probably the least likely, as Jenova seemed to _hate _Genesis…

Cloud was about to turn around and go downstairs with Tifa when he saw someone watching him from the roof of a nearby building. At first, he thought that it had to be Jenova. But no, this obviously wasn't Jenova… Actually, Cloud was all but certain that this was the Cetra that Marlene had met the day before. Cloud could see her silky brown hair and, if he squinted, he _could _see her green eyes. Those eyes reminded him _so much _of someone, but he couldn't figure out who…

The girl noticed that Cloud had seen her, and she darted away all too quickly. Cloud looked around for where she should have gone, but she had just simply… _disappeared. _Was that even possible?

Cloud sighed unhappily. There was far too much going on here… But he couldn't think about that now. No, now he had to go re-teach his old enemy how to fight, which was probably the stupidest thing he could have possibly done. What if Sephiroth remembered something just by fighting Cloud? What would Cloud do then?

Cloud turned around and walked downstairs, wondering if Genesis would show up today. It was unlikely, but there was still a chance. He _had _been there last night, although Marlene had kept Cloud from finding him. But he'd been there; Marlene had been acting strange, so the Cetra must have obviously been telling her where Genesis was… But why didn't she tell Cloud? Was she protecting him, or something? Or was she maybe even protecting Genesis? Neither made sense…

Cloud sighed and looked over at Tifa, who was sitting at the bar and waiting for him. Shelke must have been gone for the day; after all, she was only back for two more days. She probably had a lot of work left.

Tifa nodded and walked over to him. "So… are we ready to go?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. You told Marlene and Denzel to watch the bar, right?"

Marlene walked up. "Yeah, she did. Don't worry; he can handle it. Ahem, _we._ Man… I'm getting more energy every day… it's starting to mess me up a bit…"

Denzel was standing in the corner of the restaurant with a dubious expression, but he shook his head. "Yeah, you've been weird lately…"

Marlene smirked. "Ah, shut up. I'm perfectly fine! Sort of."

Tifa nodded. "Alright. I'm counting on you two, okay? We'll be gone for a while… Be responsible, alright?"

Marlene nodded. "Right."

Marlene walked off, leading Denzel into the kitchen. Tifa sighed. "Alright, Cloud. Ready to go?"

Cloud nodded, leading her outside and into the garage that he had completely forgotten about. Reeve had let them keep a truck that they had used during the Deepground battle, but Cloud had never used it since. However, it was still sitting there, looking perfectly ready to go anywhere.

Cloud looked at Tifa, who was getting into the passenger's seat. "You made sure there's nothing in the back, right?"

"Yeah, last night. I also put the Fusion Swords back there, just in case."

Cloud nodded. "Thanks. But… Should I check again?"

Tifa shrugged. "I guess, but there's really no point. Who or what do you think would be back there, exactly?"

Cloud shrugged, getting into the driver's seat and starting the car. He wasn't the best driver with anything other than Fenrir – and his slight motion sickness wouldn't make him any better of a driver – but he would try his best not to destroy anything…

Cloud sighed and started driving the car through the busy streets of Edge, finally making it to the highway that lead to Midgar.

Tifa leaned back against her chair. "See? Isn't this so much better?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, not really. I'm more used to Fenrir…"

"Eh. I guess Fenrir is alright, but…"

Cloud smiled slightly, shrugging. He looked around as they sped across the highway.

It didn't take long for the time to pass. Cloud pulled to a stop by Sephiroth, who was obviously waiting for them. How did he always know when they were coming, anyways…? He must have heard them approaching… right?

Cloud jumped out of the truck, and Tifa cautiously followed. Sephiroth nodded, looking at the back of the truck for a split-second before turning back to Cloud. "Hey, guys."

"Hello," Tifa said, causing Sephiroth to smile slightly.

"Well, I'm still alive… So that's a good sign, right? She hasn't killed me yet. But let's see if I can make it through the day…"

Tifa actually smiled slightly, as did Cloud. Cloud shook his head. "Well… Okay, so Genesis told me to teach you how to fight, so that's what we're going to do today. Are you alright with that?"

Sephiroth nodded, looking back at the truck. "Yes, of course. And- Hey, did you guys hear that?" He looked around in all directions, eventually locking onto an alleyway.

Tifa shook her head. Cloud hadn't heard anything, either. Cloud shrugged. "Hear what?"

"Something or someone around here… I should probably go see who it was…"

Cloud shook his head. "Was it Genesis?"

"No, I doubt it… But I'll be right back, okay? Just… stay here."

Cloud paused. "Shouldn't _I _be the one going to check it out?"

Sephiroth sighed. "No. You do everything, and if I'm going to be a part of this, I need to start doing things myself. Alright?"

Cloud nodded. There really was no harm in letting Sephiroth go check it out by himself. If it was Genesis, then that was fine. If it was Jenova, then she would hide. If it was either of the Cetra, Cloud would probably know.

Sephiroth nodded and walked off. Cloud sighed, turning to Tifa. "What do you think- Okay, _that _I heard."

Cloud had heard someone nearby. It had sounded almost like… almost like they had been _right _behind the truck.

Tifa nodded. "I heard it as well. Come on…"

Tifa and Cloud cautiously walked over to the truck, but there was nobody there. Cloud sighed unhappily, looking around. "Do you think someone was here…?"

"Wouldn't Jenova tell you?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. She hasn't talked to me today… But if someone _was _here… Well, we may be in trouble."

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Marlene stayed as quiet as she possibly could, hiding behind a building and watching Cloud and Tifa look around. She knew that Sephiroth hadn't heard anyone, and that he was just trying to get her to follow him. And she didn't really have a choice, as she couldn't let him out of her sight. That may be disastrous…

Marlene crept quietly through the ruined alleys, looking around for Sephiroth. But she couldn't find him anywhere. Where could he have gone…? She didn't know whether or not he wanted to kill her, so she didn't feel comfortable not knowing where he was and yet knowing that he knew she was there. He had been able to tell where she was hiding in the back of the truck, so she knew that he would be able to tell where she was now.

Marlene froze suddenly, though, as she felt a thin blade being held up against her neck.

"What do you want…?" Sephiroth's cold voice asked. Marlene swallowed hard. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth waited impatiently for Marlene's answer. Why had she been following him…? He had wanted her to, of course, but only so that he could figure out just how much she knew. He knew that it was probably a large risk losing his disguise anywhere near Cloud and Tifa, but he needed to know how Marlene knew about him.

Marlene took a deep breath and finally answered with incredible caution in her voice. "I wanted to figure out more about what is going on."

Sephiroth smirked. "Yeah, right. And how do you know as much as you do, exactly? How did you know about me? I know that you knew where I was last night… but how?"

Marlene paused, and then sighed. "I was told by a Cetra… Two, actually… They know a lot about what is going on." Her voice was a bit monotonous, as though she was being told what to say; and she probably was. Sephiroth doubted that the Cetra watching her – or the two of them, apparently – would leave Marlene alone when her life may be in danger.

_Two? You didn't tell me there were two!_

Sephiroth expected Jenova to answer, so was a bit surprised when she didn't. At first, of course.

_**Sorry, sorry. I know, I should have told you. But don't worry; I'll handle it. Now be quiet; I'm trying to focus on something else…**_

_You can focus or more than one thing at once…_

_**Yes, but I don't want to divide my attention at the moment.**_

_Fine…_

Sephiroth sighed, looking down at Marlene. He hadn't even realized he still had Masamune held against her throat. He took a step back, and Marlene turned around to face him, even though she was still looking away from him. "I know that there is more going on than I probably think. But I just wanted to know what Cloud was keeping from me." Yet again, Sephiroth knew that Marlene was being told what to say. But why would the Cetra need to tell her to say what she was doing…? Was there something else going on?

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "Don't lie. You knew already, didn't you? A lot. Why aren't you telling Cloud about me? Why would the Cetra be hiding something from him?"

"Because… because he's not ready to know yet. About everything that's happening. Everything needs to continue as it is now." She looked at him. "Six plans, right? You're not the only one."

Sephiroth froze. "How… how do you…?"

"You shouldn't speak so obviously in the City of the Ancients. It _is _an Ancient helping me, after all… You should have realized that."

Sephiroth shrugged. "I didn't know until recently… Ah, never mind. You'd best go, before I decide killing you would be better than letting you go." Sephiroth thought that he heard something on one of the nearby buildings. He decided that it must have just been a bird or something, so he didn't think to see what its energy was, as that was capable of telling him where and what something was. He assumed Jenova would have told him if Genesis was there…

Marlene swallowed hard, but she did not falter. "Sephiroth… Tell me now. What is your final plan? The secret one."

Sephiroth smirked. "If I told you it wouldn't be a secret, now, would it?"

Marlene shook her head. "Yes, I know…"

"And what about you? What secrets are _you _hiding? What Cetra are protecting you, exactly?"

"All I can say is that you know one of them _quite _well… You've had quite a large role to play in her life… and…" She sighed, shaking her head and not finishing her thought. "Well, anyways, the other one you don't exactly _know, _but you've heard of her before."

"How so?"

"Do you really care?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "No, I guess not. Now get going, before you do something you'll regret."

"But I-"

"_Go._"

Marlene shook her head. Sephiroth could sense her fear, but whatever she wanted to say, she decided it was worth the risk of dying. Marlene held Sephiroth's gaze in her own. "You can't keep ignoring yourself in order to protect Cloud, alright? If you continue along the path you are on now, you'll end up harming yourself in order to protect him."

"So?"

"_So, _you can't do that. You may not die, but you'll still hurt yourself if you keep on putting yourself in harm's way in order to protect Cloud."

Sephiroth smirked. He may not die, huh? What, because he would come back? No; not this time. He knew that the Lifestream was messed up because of all everyone had done; mainly him. If he died again, he wouldn't be coming back. "Who says I would? Cloud can die for all I care. I'm just doing what I must in order to accomplish whatever the darkness plans to do. That's all. My allies have a use for Cloud, and so he cannot die yet. I wouldn't let myself be hurt just so that Cloud is fine."

"That's a lie. You were awake all last night just so that Cloud wouldn't be harmed. You-"

Sephiroth glared at Marlene, making her cringe. He smiled slightly, glad that she knew just how much peril she was putting herself in. "Do yourself a favor and walk away now, alright? I was only up there that one night because I was told to be up there; otherwise I wouldn't have thought twice about leaving. I couldn't care less about whether Cloud lives or dies; I'm only doing what I'm told, for now. Alright? Now go."

Marlene sighed and walked away, keeping one eye on Sephiroth; probably so that she could be sure he wasn't going to kill her. As soon as she was gone, Sephiroth used a kind of magic he had learned from the Lifestream to change his appearance. He let Masamune fade into shadow, which he now did until he needed it. With that, he turned and walked back to where Cloud and Tifa were waiting for him.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Cloud and Tifa were both sitting on the ground when Sephiroth finally came back. Cloud sighed, standing up and helping Tifa to her feet. "Did you find anything?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No. Nothing. Guess it was just my imagination…" He looked over at the truck for a split second, and then back at Cloud. Cloud thought that he may have heard something in the truck yet again, but he was tired of chasing something that he wouldn't find. Sephiroth nodded. "So… what were we doing?"

"Oh, right… I was going to teach you how to fight, I think…"

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "Oh, right! Yeah… let's see how _this _goes…"

Tifa nodded. "But, um… he doesn't have a sword anymore, Cloud…"

Cloud shrugged. "But I do. Remember, the Fusion Swords have more than one fightable piece…"

Cloud started to walk over to the truck, but he was stopped in his tracks.

_**Hey! There was someone here recently…**_

Cloud froze, sighing. "Excuse me one second… I think I heard something as well…" He nodded at Tifa to follow him away from the truck and into a nearby alley. Sephiroth walked over to the truck, probably to wait.

Tifa looked over at Cloud as soon as they were far enough away. Cloud nodded. "What do you mean someone was here? Genesis?"

_**Nah. I'd be able to tell if it was him… I don't know who it was, to be honest. But they were here; that's for sure. You'd better hope it was someone on my side, otherwise someone on **_**your **_**side knows a lot more than they should…**_

"Right… Can I go back now?"

_**Uh, no… I don't know. I just think you should make sure that nobody is there… Although, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't feel their presence anymore. So yeah, you can go back.**_

Cloud shrugged. "Okay… I guess there's nothing to worry about…"

Tifa sighed. "So… Wait, so there _was _someone here?"

"Apparently. But she doesn't know who…"

"Who would be able to get in and out without us noticing them? Besides whatever we heard near the truck, of course…"

Cloud though for a moment. "Hmm… Marlene?"

"No… how would she have gotten here?"

"Well, the truck… But yeah, I suppose we would have known sooner." Cloud shrugged. "Yuffie, maybe?"

They both couldn't help but laugh. Tifa shook her head. "No, no, Yuffie may _fight _like a ninja, but she wouldn't be able to keep quiet for all the materia in the world. Especially if she saw Sephiroth. And besides, she's helping Shelke. So… who else?"

"Hmm… One of the Turks?"

"Maybe, but I haven't heard from them in awhile… Although, that _would _make sense, wouldn't it?"

Cloud shrugged. "Yeah, it would. But that wouldn't be good…"

"No, it wouldn't. But honestly, what would they have seen? Sephiroth without his memories, just walking around. That no danger to anyone, right?"

"Right. But… If Rufus knows that the most powerful SOLDIER ever to have lived doesn't have any recollection of the past… What if Rufus tries to get Sephiroth to help him?"

Tifa sighed. "With what?"

"Who knows…? Anyways, we should be getting back…"

"Yeah."

The two of them walked back to Sephiroth, who was waiting patiently for them. Cloud walked over to the back of the truck and pulled out two parts of the Fusion Swords.

Cloud looked over at Sephiroth. "Alright, I think that we should see how much you subconsciously remember first, alright?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Have I fought before this?"

"Oh yes. Ever heard of SOLDIER?"

"I was in SOLDIER?"

"Yeah… So you'll probably remember _something, _right?"

Sephiroth nodded. Cloud sighed and tossed him one of the parts of the Fusion Swords. Sephiroth caught it with absolute ease in his left hand, which made Cloud a bit uneasy. If he subconsciously knew how to fight, he may automatically attack Cloud.

Tifa looked a bit uneasy as well, but she didn't say anything. Cloud nodded at Sephiroth. "I'm going to go on the offensive, and you go on the defensive. Alright?"

Sephiroth nodded, and Cloud rushed forward. Cloud wasn't trying too hard, but neither was Sephiroth, who blocked Cloud as though it was the easiest thing in the world. Cloud had a split-second flashback of a scene almost exactly like this from the last time Sephiroth had come back.

Something in Sephiroth's eyes changed, which made Cloud a bit worried. What was going through his mind…?

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

_Hell yeah! _Sephiroth thought. He had forgotten how great it felt to fight!

Cloud came around multiple times, but Sephiroth blocked him with ease. He probably shouldn't have, as Cloud may have thought something was strange, but that didn't matter.

Cloud sighed, obviously a bit stunned. "Okay, so you obviously remember how to fight…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I don't know why. It's like something just clicked inside of me."

"Yeah, that's understandable…"

"So? What now?"

Tifa walked forward. "How about I try to fight you now?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Sure." He knew how much Tifa hated him. After all, he _had _killed her father and many others she had loved…

Sephiroth tossed Cloud back the part of the Fusion Swords that he was holding. Cloud almost dropped it, which Sephiroth had expected. Tifa charged at Sephiroth, and Sephiroth didn't do anything to stop her. She hit him in the chest; hard. So hard, in fact, that she threw him into the building he was in front of. But Sephiroth knew that he deserved it.

Sephiroth had fallen to the ground, so he shakily stood up. Tifa and Cloud were both startled, but Cloud rushed over to the two of them. "I… I thought you…?"

Sephiroth smirked. "What?"

Tifa shook her head. "Why… why didn't you move? Or block me?"

"You didn't want me to."

"How could you possibly know that?"

Sephiroth smiled sadly. "It was obvious. I don't know why you hate me, but you do. So…"

Tifa paused. "I… Yes, but… you didn't have to take that…"

Sephiroth sighed. He hoped Marlene wasn't watching… "It doesn't matter. Can we just get back to practicing?"

Cloud nodded. "Oh, uh, yeah…"

Cloud tossed Sephiroth back the part of the Fusion Swords, and they both rushed at each other.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Tifa sat back against the truck, watching Sephiroth and Cloud spar. She couldn't help but notice that Sephiroth seemed to not have lost any of his fighting skills. At least he didn't remember that he wanted to kill Cloud…

But why had Sephiroth not blocked Tifa's attack? It just didn't make any sense. He knew that she had wanted to hit him, but the Sephiroth she knew wouldn't have let her. Of course, he _was _different now, but still. Did he have some recollection of the past…? Did he know just how much he had deserved Tifa's blow? That wasn't possible… right? If so, then that wasn't good…

Tifa thought that she heard someone behind her and turned around, but there was nobody there. She sure hoped it wasn't Genesis, as she wouldn't really know what to do if it was…

Tifa wondered if Cloud was right, and that whoever had been watching them was one of the Turks. If so, then that may be bad. If Rufus Shinra found out that Sephiroth was back without his memories… who knew what he would try to do? Tifa couldn't let that happen… She decided that she had to find Rufus, and fast. Even if he _didn't _know, Tifa had to make sure that things stayed that way…

Cloud was obviously starting to get frustrated with the fact that Sephiroth could hold him back, even without his memories. They were both easily moving around the clearing, but Tifa noticed something odd. She had seen Cloud fight multiple times, but his fighting style had become… different, somehow. It _always_ did when he fought Sephiroth, actually. Tifa couldn't really explain it, but it was definitely odd. Whenever he fought Sephiroth, Cloud seemed a bit more graceful than he normally was. And stronger, too. Was Aerith somehow helping him…? It would make sense. Tifa could only begin to guess…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth had left the defensive role behind and was now forcing_ Cloud_ to defend himself. It probably wasn't the best idea, but Sephiroth was completely caught up in the moment. However, that didn't keep him from being intrigued by the fact that Cloud seemed different, just like he always did whenever the two fought. Sephiroth had noticed this while taking a moment to listen to Tifa's thoughts. But… _was _Aerith helping Cloud? If so, did she know that Sephiroth remembered everything?

Cloud was obviously not fighting to his full potential, but neither was Sephiroth. If this had been an actual battle, Cloud would have seen just how much Sephiroth had learned from the Lifestream…

Cloud darted behind Sephiroth, but Sephiroth was too fast for him. Normally, at least. Cloud _was _a bit faster than normal, but that didn't matter. Sephiroth caught Cloud's strike with ease, tossing him backwards. He would have gone after him, but decided that they had been fighting long enough. So Sephiroth took a step back, and Cloud did the same.

_**Hey, I was enjoying watching that…**_

_Too bad. Any longer and he would have thought that something was up…_

_**That's no excuse…**_

Cloud nodded, smiling slightly. "Well… You definitely remember how to fight."

Sephiroth smiled. "Yeah… fighting must have been an important part of my past, because I feel as though I've been doing it every day. It's strange, really…"

"Yeah, a bit. But understandable."

Tifa walked up to the two. "So… what now? It's getting late…"

Sephiroth nodded. He handed the part of the Fusion Swords back to Cloud, who put both parts back into the truck and pulled a sheet over the entire sword. Sephiroth sighed. "You'd best be getting back. Perhaps we can do this again tomorrow?"

Cloud shook his head. "I should actually be getting some of my deliveries done about now… I also need to go to Nibelheim… You can come, if you want."

Oh. Nibelheim. Great…

_**Hmm… I do wonder what will happen there… There's really no need to be worried, though. There's nothing there; not anymore. Just memories, but that should be no issue…**_

Sephiroth nodded, ignoring Jenova for one of the first times. "Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I?"

_**Don't ignore me…**_

Sephiroth ignored her again, not having the time to respond, as Cloud spoke again. "Oh, right… So, see you tomorrow?"

_**Hello? Fine, ignore me. But remember, Malrene – Marlene – still needs to get back into their truck without being seen…**_

_Damn it…_

_**Heh. That got you, didn't it? Don't worry; I've got it covered. Just use your normal excuse… You'll know what to do.**_

Sephiroth turned around as he heard something in the nearby alley; obviously Jenova. She'd been here the whole time…?

Sephiroth shook his head. "You guys heard that too, right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah…"

"You two should probably go check it out… I'll make sure nobody comes this way, alright?"

Cloud and Tifa nodded and walked away. Sephiroth sighed and walked over to the truck. "Marlene. Get out here. Now. You don't have much time…"

Marlene cautiously walked out from behind a building. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because if Cloud finds out that you were here and walking around while I was, that may be bad for me."

"But… How did you get Cloud and Tifa to leave?"

"Mmm… that was Mother's doing. I don't expect you to know who she is, of course. But…"

Marlene shook her head. "Jenova, right? I know who she is. I heard Cloud and Tifa talking about her…"

"Yes, well… Just hide already. You don't have much time, and I don't want them to see me talking to you."

Marlene nodded and quickly slipped into the back of the truck, pulling the sheet over herself. Moments later, Cloud and Tifa came back from the alleyway. "There was nobody there, of course," Cloud said, shaking his head. Poor, naïve Cloud…

Sephiroth sighed, noting a quick movement out of the corner of his eye. Jenova was watching them, and she was probably getting a bit too close. But that didn't really matter, as Cloud would be gone soon. "Could it have been Genesis, perhaps?"

"Yeah, maybe…"

Tifa sighed. "We should get going… We'll see you later, alright?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah, of course. See you later."

Cloud and Tifa got into their truck and drove away, leaving Sephiroth alone. He sighed unhappily, leaning against a nearby wall and letting his disguise fade away so that he was back in his normal outfit. It was getting quite late… What would Cloud and Tifa do if they got back to 7th Heaven and Marlene wasn't there yet? She needed to make sure she was safe before she could go inside, which may take awhile…

"Hey!" Jenova shouted from one of the nearby buildings. Sephiroth immediately stood up, looking over at where he saw her shadowed figure. All he could really see of her were her purple eyes, which were glowing in the increasing darkness. "Shouldn't you be following them? Or have you finally decided to stay here for once?"

"No, I'm going."

"You shouldn't…"

"I still am. And you can't stop me… you haven't been able to yet."

"Excuse me!" she snapped, slamming him with a mental wall that made him stagger and nearly fall over. "I could if I wanted to. Don't you forget that. I just don't, because I need Cloud as well. I don't know why _you _care whether or not he lives, but I myself have a use for him."

Sephiroth shook his head. "And what would that use be, exactly?"

"You'll see… But for now, I'd rather keep that to myself. I don't want you messing up my plans…"

"Why would I…? I'm on your side, remember."

"Yes, but my main plan is very delicate. If you know and make one misstep, you could shatter the whole thing."

"How so…?"

"Don't ask. You and Marlene's Cetra friend aren't the only ones accidentally following your 'six plans' rule…"

"Oh…" Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head. "Well, it doesn't matter right now. I should get going…"

"Right…"

Sephiroth smirked and made his one wing appear. He then took off, not even realizing that Jenova hadn't been the only one up on the building…


	17. A White Rose and Her White Lies

_**A White Rose and Her White Lies**_

Cloud and Tifa walked into 7th Heaven, looking around. Shelke was talking to Denzel, Yuffie was sitting in a booth by herself, and Marlene was nowhere to be found.

Wait. Yuffie?

Yes, the self-proclaimed White Rose of Wutai was simply sitting there, not drawing any attention to herself. So something was _obviously _wrong with her. Why was she here, anyways?

Cloud nodded at Tifa, who understood his silent sentence and walked over to Shelke and Denzel.

Cloud walked over to Yuffie, who cautiously looked up at him as he approached. She sighed and smiled. "Oh. Hey, Cloud! Sorry, but I had nothing else to do, so I thought I'd follow Shelke home. That's fine, right?"

Cloud paused. "Yeah, I guess. But why-"

"Hey, so, did you know that Reeve is getting _really _worked up about something? He had Shelke, Vinnie, and me all out looking for Weiss and anyone suspicious. He isn't ruling anyplace out. He even thinks there _may _be something in Midgar."

"What?" Cloud said instantly. If Reeve looked around Midgar…

"I know, right? Is that crazy or _what_?I mean, seriously. Nobody would go there. He sent me out to look around there, and I agreed just so that I could prove to him that there's nothing there. And guess what I found? Nothing! But he's still worried that someone is hiding out there. I don't know _why _he's so paranoid all of a sudden…"

Cloud froze. "Wait. You were in Midgar today?" Yuffie didn't seem to know anything about Sephiroth, so it obviously wasn't her that Jenova had sensed. But that wasn't what Cloud was worried about. If it _had _been one of the Turks that had been there… If Reeve and Shinra possibly both had the same goal… They couldn't be working together again, right?

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah. That place is _awful. _And there's nothing there that could possibly be making Reeve worried. Why would he have me go there, anyways?" She looked cautiously at Cloud. "He said that you may know something about the happenings in Midgar… Is that true?"

Cloud froze. Reeve knew. That was the only explanation. Cloud shook his head. "No… I don't know why he thought that I would… Sorry, Yuffie."

Yuffie sighed, nodding. "That's what I was thinking, too. Why would _you _know anything? If it doesn't have to do with Sephiroth, then there's no reason you would know something we didn't…"

"Right…" Cloud sighed. He had to know if Reeve knew. "Yuffie… I'll be right back, alright?"

Yuffie nodded and Cloud walked over to Tifa, Shelke, and Denzel. Cloud sighed. "Hey, Denzel? Can you go find Marlene?"

Denzel froze, but then cautiously nodded. "Oh, uh, right. Yeah, sure." He ran off, and Cloud paused.

"That was a bit suspicious…"

Shelke smirked. "That doesn't matter right now. Reeve sent Yuffie to Midgar. Midgar! Did you see her?"

Cloud shook his head. "No. She wasn't the only one there, though. Jenova sensed someone from wherever she was, and Tifa and I have narrowed it down to probably being one of the Turks. If Rufus sent one of the Turks to Midgar the same day Reeve sent Yuffie there…"

Shelke hung her head. "They may be working together. Damn it…"

Cloud nodded. "I'm going to call Reeve and figure this all out…"

Shelke and Tifa nodded. Cloud picked up his phone and dialed Reeve, who picked up almost immediately.

"…_Cloud? Is everything alright?"_

"Yeah, um… Reeve?"

"_Yes?"_

"Did you tell Yuffie that I knew something about Midgar?"

"…_No… I sent her there today, because I didn't want to rule out any place that has had past significance. I sent her, Shelke, and Vincent out to different areas today in order to find out who or what was in that cavern. But… I never told Yuffie that you may know something…"_

Cloud sighed, lowering his voice so that Yuffie definitely couldn't hear him. "Really? Because she's here right now and is saying that you did…"

"_Well, I didn't… She didn't find anything there, so I don't know why she would need to lie to you, but… I promise you. I never told her that you would have anything to do with Midgar…"_

"Hmm… Alright. Thanks Reeve. I'll talk to you later, I guess…"

"_Call me anytime, Cloud."_

Cloud hung up, looking at Tifa and Shelke. "He denied it. And right about now, I don't know who to believe. Both Yuffie and Reeve have lied to us in the past… Although, Yuffie only lied to steal our Materia. Reeve lied to be a spy for Shinra. So…"

Shelke sighed, shaking her head. "Why wouldn't he just tell us…? We may still hate Rufus, but we're not the worst of enemies anymore… Right? I don't know about you guys, but…"

Tifa nodded. "No; you're right… There's something going on here. And we need to find out what."

Then, though, Marlene and Denzel walked into the room. Yuffie looked over at them, but then stared straight at Marlene. A sly smile appeared on her face.

"Where were you two, exactly?"

Marlene and Denzel looked over at her. Marlene shrugged. "Up in my room. Hey, Yuffie. Long time no see."

Yuffie nodded. "Oh, yeah. Right."

Denzel walked back over to Cloud, Tifa, and Shelke. Marlene walked over to Yuffie, who sighed. "So… What's so interesting about your room?"

Marlene looked a bit confused. "Um… nothing? I was just sitting up there because I was bored…"

"Ah. Yeah, I get bored easily as well…"

Cloud sighed. "Hey, Yuffie? It's quite late… Don't you have somewhere to be, or something?"

Yuffie sighed. "No, not really. But I can see that you want me to leave. Although I don't know why; I'm so fun to be around! But I'll go, if you really want me to…"

Cloud shrugged. "It's not that we _want _you to leave; it's just that we all need to get some rest…"

"Oh, of course. More deliveries, right?"

"Yeah… how did you…?"

Yuffie smiled slyly. "I'm the world's best ninja, remember?"

"Ah. Of course."

Yuffie nodded and stood up, starting to walk out of 7th Heaven. However, Cloud walked over and stopped her. "Hey, Yuffie? Is something wrong? You seem a bit… different."

Yuffie paused. She looked over at Marlene with a sly, knowing twinkle in her eyes. Yuffie smiled gently at Cloud, still slightly watching Marlene. "Yes, there is something… However, you're not… You're 'not ready to know yet.' So I'm sorry. Tell you later, okay?"

Marlene froze. All of the color seemed to drain from her skin. What had Yuffie said…?

Yuffie winked at Marlene and walked out of 7th Heaven. Marlene was still staring after her with multiple mixed emotions in her eyes. What could Yuffie not tell him…? _Had _she seen Sephiroth? Cloud doubted that. She would have told him, as there was no real reason for her to hide that she knew what Cloud already knew as well… But whatever she had said to Marlene was obviously something important…

Marlene took a deep breath. She looked like she wanted to run after Yuffie, but she didn't. Instead, she stood up and simply walked upstairs without saying a thing. Denzel had no choice but to follow her.

Cloud sighed. "We should probably get some rest as well…"

Tifa shook her head. "But… Marlene… what did Yuffie say to suddenly make her so upset?"

"I don't know, but… I think we should leave her alone for now. We should probably just get some rest… I have a lot to do tomorrow. And Shelke… isn't tomorrow your last day here for a few weeks?"

Shelke nodded. "Yes. It's Yuffie's as well, so we need to find out what is going on…"

Cloud sighed. "Oh, yeah… Well, let's worry about it tomorrow. Alright?"

Tifa and Shelke nodded, and the three of them walked upstairs. Tifa and Shelke went straight to their rooms, but Cloud wanted to make sure that Marlene was alright. Denzel was obviously asleep, as he was the only one that seemed to be ignorant of what was going on.

Cloud expected Marlene to be either asleep or up on the roof, so he was surprised to hear her talking to someone. He couldn't really hear what she was saying, so he quietly stood next to her closed door.

"-found out? Shouldn't you have told me that she- Well yes, I thought I heard someone, but I didn't think someone was actually- _Ugh, _can you let me finish? Sheesh… Listen. She didn't say anything. That's all that is important. She must know that he can't… But I think we need to find out how much she knows. And… oh, hey! I haven't heard from you in a while… Yeah, you get used to it, when you have to. I normally don't, but it's easy after a while… So, anyways, what do we do about- Yes? Hmm…"

Cloud knew just by Marlene's tone of respect and urgency that she was talking to the Cetra. Apparently, both of them. So the Cetra could talk to Marlene in her mind, just like Jenova could talk to Cloud. It must have had something to do with that necklace… Cloud considered asking Jenova to intercept the conversation, as she probably could. However, he knew that he shouldn't do that. But what did Marlene mean, 'she didn't say anything'? And 'we need to find out how much she knows'? Did she mean Yuffie? Did Yuffie somehow know about the Cetra? Or was there something else that Marlene hadn't told Cloud…?

"No… Maybe I could talk to her? No, you can't. Why? Because she's still my friend. And you don't- What? Wait… he is? Oh no…"

Oh, great. The Cetra knew Cloud was there.

_**Get out of there. Now. You don't want to make a Cetra angry; especially the ones that she's talking to. Trust me…**_

Cloud jumped, not expecting Jenova to say anything. Where had she been all day…? And how did she know what he was doing? Also… she knew who the Cetra were?

_**Hey, you're getting the hang of talking to me without saying anything. Anyways… Yes, I know who they are. You know them both, although you've only really heard of one. You've never met her. And the other… well, you know her **_**quite **_**well. So does Sephy, although he sees her in a much different light than you do… Ahem, **_**saw. **_**Trust me; if you saw her up close, you'd know **_**exactly **_**who she was. Probably. Anyways… Go. Now. Before-**_

Suddenly, Marlene's door opened, hitting Cloud with such force that it knocked him across the hall and onto the ground. Marlene ran out.

"Cloud! I'm so sorry! I didn't…"

_**Okay, now **_**that **_**I enjoyed. I must admit that I was kind of hoping that that would happen…**_

Cloud shook his head, still in a bit of a daze. "I… Marlene? Next time a Cetra tells you to leave your room because I'm standing right outside the door, remember that I'm _standing right outside the door._"

"Right… sorry…"

Cloud sighed, shakily getting to his feet. "It's… fine… What were the three of you talking about, anyways?"

Marlene shook her head. "I can't tell you… I'm sorry… I wish I could, but..."

"I get it. Don't worry. I just wanted to see what you were doing… So… good night?"

Marlene nodded. "Yeah. Good night…"

Cloud sighed and walked into his room, getting into his bed. If the Cetra didn't want Cloud to know something, then that was fine for now. After all, he wasn't one of them, no matter _how _many times he saved the Planet. But… neither was Marlene. Right? Or… no, there was no way she could be a Cetra. Unless… wait… Could that be how Aerith had contacted her? And why these two Cetra were talking only to her? Marlene _had _said that one of the Cetra had told her something that she had to keep a secret… Something that was the reason she always had so much energy… Could it really be…?

There was too much that Cloud needed to know…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth was expecting to have a quiet night when a voice startled him from behind.

"One night, huh?"

Sephiroth, who was sitting on the edge of the roof, turned his head to see Marlene. He sighed and looked away. "What do you want…?"

Marlene, seeming more confident than she should in the darkness, sat down next to him. He didn't make any move to stop her, though, as Cloud's room was right underneath them. Marlene shrugged. "Well… Why did you tell me that you were only up here because you were told to be?"

"How do you know that I wasn't told to be up here right now?"

"Well… For starters, you've been up here every night for the past few weeks…"

Sephiroth glared at her. "How could you possibly know that?"

Marlene smiled slightly. "I'm an empath. Just like you. I've felt your energy up here for quite awhile… I didn't really think it could have been you until I found out you had come back… Then, I talked to the Cetra, and she confirmed my suspicions."

"Oh…"

Marlene looked up at the stars. "Sephiroth… You know, you don't have to be evil."

Sephiroth looked at her, startled. "What? Yes, I do."

She shook her head. "No, you don't. What's so great about the dark side, anyways?"

_**We have cookies? Sorry, couldn't resist.**_

Sephiroth smirked. "Thank you for another random comment, Mother…"

_**Anytime.**_

Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head. "Anyways… I don't know, really. I guess that it's just who I am, and I can't change that fact."

"But… do you _want _to be evil?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "It's not a question of whether I do or don't. That's how things are, and there's no changing that fact. Besides; being evil isn't all that bad, I guess. For me, at least. Why do you care, anyways?"

Marlene shrugged. "I don't know… I guess that I just want to know why you went down the path you did."

"That wasn't my choice. But… I guess it will work out, in the end." Could he dare to hint at what he was truly planning…?

Marlene nodded. "Yes, it will. When chaos breaks loose in this world… heh… everything will seem bleak. But that is when the most powerful lights shall emerge. You should be prepared… You may not survive this."

"I know."

"You do?"

"Of course I do. Many people will die, and there's always a chance I'll be one of them. But I'll do my best to survive longer than… others…"

"Do you mean Cloud?"

"Perhaps…" He looked over at her. "How much do your Cetra friends know?"

"About what's going through your mind? Very little. But they – and I – know almost everything else."

Sephiroth thought for a moment. Did she know what he didn't? He had to take the chance to find out. "And… do they know who I'm working with?"

"It's you, Jenova, and two others. Right?"

"Yeah. But do they know who those two others are?"

"They know who one of them is. But the other… no. And I assume that you don't either?"

Sephiroth shook his head, dodging her question. "Aren't you, like, eleven or something? Why are you so mature?"

Marlene shrugged. "Who knows…? I've always been more mature than I should be. Because of everything that's happening, I've had to grow up much more quickly than I should have had to…"

Sephiroth nodded. "I was in your position a while ago… Anyways, is this all you came here to talk to me about?"

"No… I came to tell you that you need to get some rest. You can't sacrifice yourself for Cloud. Especially since you are instrumental in the final plan of one of the Cetra… Both of them, actually."

_**Whoa! They want you to sleep, too? The Cetra and I are actually working towards the same goal? Who would have thought! I mean, it's a very minor thing, but still! I'm a bit confused, actually, but…**_

Sephiroth smirked. "Ah. Of course… No, I can't leave now. I don't care much for Cloud, but I know what's coming, and I don't want him to have to face the horrors of the future until it's time."

Marlene looked down. "Oh…" She sighed. "He won't. He's being watched over by two other incredibly powerful people. You don't need to stay and help. At least take _one _night off, and let us watch over Cloud."

Sephiroth paused, looking at her. "'Us'? What is that supposed to mean…? You're counting yourself in with the Cetra now?"

"I have no choice. I've been chosen to protect Cloud because of… well, I'm _assuming _it's because of the fact that I was such close friends with Aerith. I know that I'm young, but I now have the experience of many who have fallen into the Lifestream. I'm sort of like Shelke, in a way; I look young, but I act like an adult. It's a bit odd, I must admit. But I've gotten used to it."

"Does Cloud know that you've gained some of the Lifestream's knowledge?"

"I doubt it…"

Sephiroth sighed. "How could you have possibly borrowed knowledge from the Lifestream…? Are you a Cetra…?"

"I… I don't think so, but… Who knows?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "You're not going to leave until I do, are you…?"

Marlene smiled slightly. "No, I'm not."

Sephiroth sighed. "I guess I could take a few nights off… But if something happens, it's your fault. Alright?"

Marlene nodded. "Of course."

Sephiroth looked back up at the sky, standing up. "Alright… fine…" He summoned his one black wing and took off without another word.

It only took Sephiroth about two minutes to get back to Midgar. He found the house that he had located in case Cloud ever asked any questions and went upstairs. He reluctantly laid down and, for the first time in such a long time, he fell asleep.


	18. The Red Planet

**A/N: Sorry ahead of Time if some of the facts are off in this chapter, as I haven't played Before Crisis yet…**

* * *

_**The Red Planet**_

Cloud awoke the next morning and went downstairs immediately, as he had a long day ahead of him. Shelke and Tifa were there, waiting for him.

"Hey, Cloud?" Shelke asked.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to make sure… you'll be alright when I'm gone, right? I feel like this is no time to be leaving…"

Cloud smiled slightly. "If something happens, I'll call you. Alright?"

Shelke nodded. "Right."

Cloud thought for a moment. "And anyways, you'll be back one more time today, right?"

Shelke looked over at Cloud. "Right. Oh, and I almost forgot… Nanaki called me… I still don't know _how _he does that, but… Anyways, he asked me to tell you to come over to Cosmo Canyon as soon as you could. Alright?" She paused. "Alone, I'm assuming," she added. Cloud shrugged.

"Got it. Did he say why?"

"Nope. He had to go as soon as he told me to tell you to come. He didn't sound _worried, _exactly, but he also did… it's hard to explain, really. But you should probably get there as soon as you can…"

Cloud nodded. "I will." He obviously couldn't take Sephiroth, so he hoped that things in Midgar would be calm today.

Shelke smiled gently and walked off.

Cloud sighed, turning to Tifa. "Where are Marlene and Denzel…?"

She shrugged. "Still asleep, I would assume. But there's no time for you to check on them, since you'd better go tell Sephiroth you have to go and then get to Cosmo Canyon…"

"Right. See you later, then?"

Tifa nodded, and Cloud walked outside. He leapt on Fenrir, making sure that the Fusion Swords were in place again before taking off towards Midgar.

As nobody was with him, Cloud was able to go about five times the speed limit on the highway to Midgar. So it wasn't surprising that it didn't take him very long to get to Midgar.

Sephiroth was waiting for him, like always. He seemed much more awake than he had every other time Cloud had seen him so far, which was probably a good thing. Cloud pulled to a stop next to his old enemy.

"Hey, Sephiroth?"

"Yeah?"

Cloud shook his head. "I need to be somewhere today and possibly tomorrow, so is there any way we can go to Nibelheim in a few days?"

Sephiroth nodded, obviously relieved. "Yes, of course. Do whatever you need to; I can wait. Where are you going, anyways?"

"A place called Cosmo Canyon; a friend said that he needed me there."

Sephiroth looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded. "Ah. Alright. See you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow."

Sephiroth nodded, and Cloud sped off towards whatever was waiting for him.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

A few hours later, Cloud pulled to a stop at the entrance to Nanaki's town, Cosmo Canyon. Nanaki, a red lion/wolf-like creature, had been captured by the Turks a few years back and experimented on by Professor Hojo, who had given him the name 'Red XIII'. Nanaki had helped Cloud and his friends multiple times in the fight to defend the Planet.

Nanaki was waiting for Cloud, and he looked quite frantic. He was pacing back and forth with his tail flicking around nervously. As soon as he saw Cloud, he rushed over.

"Cloud! I thought you were not going to make it…"

Cloud shook his head. "I came as quickly as I could. So… what's happening? Why are you so nervous?"

"Well, I… You see, I wanted to have everyone here, but I knew you were the only one who could make it. I do not know what I should say to her…"

"_Who, _Nanaki?"

Nanaki looked back at Cloud. "Deneh, of course! Who else?"

"Um… I don't really know who that is…"

"Oh… of course…" Nanaki thought for a moment. "How do I tell you who she is…? Well, how about I just tell you what happened, then? When I got captured by the Turks so long ago, it was to protect Deneh. She is the only other one of my kind that I know of… We were supposed to perform a rite to protect the Planet, but then Shinra and the original AVALANCHE stepped in. The Turks got to Deneh, and I kept them from capturing her; instead, they captured me. But they let us perform the rite for some reason. At the end of the rite, Deneh was placed in an altar. The last she saw of me was the Turks coming back over to take me away… I bet she thinks that they still have me captive. And today is the day that she gets to finally leave the altar… I don't know what to say to her…"

Cloud thought for a moment. He had thought that Nanaki was the only left of his kind, after Nanaki's parents died. But apparently not… And perhaps, Nanaki and Deneh could even save their kind from extinction, if they wanted to…

"Well, Nanaki… I don't honestly know what you should do. She'll be happy to see you, right? And know you're alright?"

"Either that or she'll try to kill me… I'm assuming, knowing her, that she'll be furious at me for risking myself like that, even if it _was _to protect her_…"_

Cloud sighed. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find out, right?"

"If I perish within the next few minutes, will you give Yuffie the few Materia I've kept with me?"

Cloud laughed. "Sure thing."

Nanaki nodded. "Okay… Come on…"

Nanaki led Cloud to a stone door in the side of a mountain. There were a few others who were already waiting for him, and they all looked up as the two approached.

"Alright, Nanaki," one said. "Are you ready?"

Nanaki nodded. "Yes, I am."

The man nodded and led Nanaki over to the stone door. It opened as Nanaki approached it, shedding light on a large cavern. Near one edge of the cavern sat an altar, and right in front of it was the one who was obviously Deneh.

Deneh looked very similar to Nanaki, so she must have been around the same age as he was. She was smaller and leaner than Nanaki, however, and her fur was tan instead of red. Also, she didn't have tattoos, although that was expected since Hojo was the one who had given Nanaki most of his tattoos.

Deneh's eyes were closed, and Cloud wondered if she was alright.

Nanaki walked over to Deneh, who finally started to open her eyes.

"Nanaki…?" she sleepily said, as though she had just woken up from a long slumber. In fact, she probably had. Her voice was smooth and graceful, though, even though she seemed half asleep.

"Yes, Deneh. It is me," Nanaki said, stopping next to her.

Deneh closed her eyes again. "I've seen it in my dreams… the battle for the Planet that continues even now. You… you were there. I could have sworn you were there… But that cannot be… And yet it all felt so real… This feels so real, as well. But I know I am only dreaming still… Oh, how I wish you were real… When I awaken, I will find you in reality. I have so much to tell you…"

Nanaki shook his head. "Deneh, this is not a dream."

"Yes, it is. I have thought so many times that my dreams were real, and yet I always awaken, only to fall back into my slumber."

"But, Deneh… This is _real. _Your time here has come to an end… You don't need to stay here anymore. I am really here… you need to come with me."

Deneh slowly opened her eyes and looked straight at Nanaki. She still looked as though she was in a daze. "I…" She put a paw forward and touched Nanaki's front paw. Instantly, her eyes widened. "It… it is _real… _you're real…? You are!"

Deneh's dazed look instantly vanished. "Nanaki! You… you…"

"I escaped, thanks to Cloud Strife and his friends."

"My dreams… most of them, at least… they were real? That all really happened?"

"I would assume so, yes."

Deneh looked over at Cloud, and then back at Nanaki. "I…" She shook her head, tackling Nanaki to the ground. "You… you had me so worried! How _dare _you do that to me! I thought it was all my fault that you got captured! It had been eating me up this whole time! Even the Planet could never calm my fears, no matter how many times it tried! It spoke to me, you know. While I was in here. It told me what was happening… But… I thought they were going to kill you!" She paused. "Although, I _did _see what he did to you… all of it… But… You shouldn't have done what you did! I thought… I thought I would never see you again…"

Nanaki shook his head. "Deneh… Can you please get off of me?"

"Not until you explain exactly _what _happened! I want to hear it from _you, _and not just the Planet! You owe me that much!"

One of the villagers, a woman, confidently walked into the cave. "Deneh, there will be time for that later. For now, you must get some _real _rest. Can you please come with me?"

Deneh paused, looking over at the woman. She instantly got off of Nanaki. "Oh… yes, of course."

Nanaki walked over to Cloud. "I can't believe I'm still alive…"

Cloud smiled slightly. "Do you want me to come with you guys, for now?"

"Yes, please."

The woman, who had Deneh at her side, smiled and turned to the crowd. "Everyone else, you should probably get back to your normal days. Alright?"

Everyone listened to her almost instantly, although it was obvious that some of them were a bit reluctant in doing so.

Cloud, the woman, Deneh, and Nanaki all walked into one of the buildings that Cloud remembered Nanaki lived in. The woman led Deneh and a reluctant Nanaki into Nanaki's room, where they could speak – or kill each other – without being heard.

The woman nodded. "You two have a lot to talk about. Deneh, if you can go without killing Nanaki, it would be best if you told him all that you saw while you were in the cavern. And then, you should probably get some rest."

Deneh nodded, looking over at the obviously-scared Nanaki. Cloud and the woman backed out of the room, and the woman closed the door.

There was a small glass circle at the top of the door, and Cloud looked through it to make sure Nanaki was still alright. Deneh said something, and then tackled Nanaki to the floor again. He looked terrified yet again, as he was probably certain that Deneh was going to kill him. Cloud wasn't entirely certain that she wasn't going to.

Cloud sighed. "Should we really leave them in there…? I'm afraid she may tear his throat out…"

The woman shrugged. "Nah. He'll be just fine. And Deneh will be a great help to you and your friends, as she will have seen much in her slumber. So we should probably leave them alone for now."

"'A great help'? What do you mean by that?"

The woman smiled slightly. "I said what I mean and I mean exactly what I said. You're protecting the Planet, which has been talking to her the entire time she was in there. The Lifestream itself has been speaking to her; Minerva will have told her much. And she will have told Minervamuch. You know, I'm assuming."

Cloud paused. "Right…" He sighed, pacing around. After a few minutes, he got a bit worried. Nanaki hadn't come out yet… was he still alive?

Cloud looked over at the woman, who was watching him with obvious amusement. It was great to know that she found his worry to be entertaining…

Cloud sighed, unable to hold off his worry for his friend. "I'm going to go make sure Nanaki is still alive…"

The woman nodded. "You should be able to hear what they're saying, if you listen to the door…"

Cloud shrugged and put his ear to the door. Everything was very quiet at first, but for only a few seconds.

"Yeah, I know they're expecting you…" Deneh was saying, no longer sounding evil. "But… I'm so tired… Can we not just rest for awhile?"

"Yes, I guess we can…" Nanaki said, no longer sounding afraid.

Cloud peaked inside the room through the small piece of glass and saw the last thing he expected: not only was Deneh no longer trying to kill Nanaki, but they were actually lying down right next to each other. Deneh had her head nestled in Nanaki's neck, and she seemed to be almost asleep again.

"You know…" Deneh said sleepily. "The goddess Minerva spoke to me… She told me how brave you had become…"

"Did she, now…? I thought she didn't speak? At least, that's what the legends normally say, however few there are."

"No, she speaks… And I wasn't sure whether or not I believed her, but then she showed me what was happening… I thought it was nothing more than a dream, but… She also told me about what is going on now… And what is coming… I… I'm so scared, Nanaki… I would never say that to anyone else, but…"

"Shh… There will be time for that later… For now, you should get some real rest."

Deneh nodded slightly. Nanaki and Deneh both fell asleep, as they were obviously both exhausted. Nanaki had probably stayed up for days worrying about what was going to happen, and yet he apparently shouldn't have worried at all.

The girl was standing next to Cloud, which made him jump. He hadn't even heard her approaching. She smiled, although not at him. "Good for her… You know, she was _so _worried about him…"

Cloud smiled slightly. "Yeah… Hey, um… she seemed to respect you, and I get the feeling that she doesn't act like that towards many people… Who are you?"

She girl smiled. Her green eyes twinkled in the torchlight. "I am one who has known her for quite a long time… She would trust me with anything."

"Kind of like how Nanaki acted with Bugenhagen, right?"

"In a way, I suppose. Now, I think we should leave them alone for a while…"

Cloud nodded, and they both walked down to the inn. "So…" Cloud said, not really sure what else to do. "How long have you lived in Cosmo Canyon?"

"Oh, I don't live here. I'm just visiting, actually. I'm normally traveling the Planet. That's how I met Deneh."

"Ah… And so… Have you ever come across anything strange in your travels? Recently, I mean?" He might as well see if she knew anything…

"Strange…? Hmm… I suppose things have been different lately. The Planet is different. The Lifestream itself is changing."

"How so…?"

She shrugged. "It's impossible to explain. However, you should know that Minerva – the Lifestream, I suppose – will not falter. Whatever is happening, Minerva will remain strong. Cloud Strife… you must do your part whiles she does hers. I myself can only watch the battle that is ensuing and hope that I either survive to see a brighter future or die before the Planet become hell itself. But you… you have been gifted with the ability to change the future, and make it a place where good shall still prevail."

Cloud thought for a moment. "You seem to know quite a lot… Have you ever met any Cetra?"

She nodded. "Indeed I have. Many of them." She thought for a moment. "Why…?"

"Well… Would they be able to change whatever is happening? You obviously know something is coming…"

"With all I have seen, it's impossible _not _to know. As for the Cetra… I don't know. Yes, I suppose it's possible. But… not without something… what was it called…? Oh, yes. The White Materia. If you're to end this, Cloud Strife, you will need the White Materia."

Cloud sighed, shaking his head. "I don't know where it is…"

"Well, you'd better find that out. Now, Deneh and Nanaki should be down soon, so I should get going. I'll see you later; I'm sure of it." She stood up and walked off without saying anything else.

Cloud sighed and paced around. It wasn't long before he was the only one there. He sat down at a table, waiting for anyone to come in.

Cloud heard something behind him. He turned around to see Deneh standing there.

"How much did you see?" she asked.

Cloud smirked. "Enough to know that you don't hate Nanaki as much as you say you do."

Deneh smiled evilly. "You tell _anyone _about what you saw, and I'll maim you. Understand?"

Cloud couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Don't worry; you're secret's safe with me and your friend."

Deneh thought for a moment. "How much did she tell you?"

"Not much."

"Then I won't say anything, either. Now come with me; you, Nanaki, and I all have much to discuss…"

Cloud nodded. The two of them went up to Bugenhagen's planetarium, where Nanaki was waiting patiently. Nanaki looked over at Cloud, who smiled slightly at him.

"Alright," Deneh said. "So… what do you two wish to know?"

Nanaki shrugged. "First off… You talked to Minerva?"

Deneh nodded. "Yes. She got back to this world around the time I was placed in the altar… She had lost her memories, but somebody was helping her get them back."

"Um… what?"

"Never mind. That part isn't important. Anyways, she told me about what was going on with the Planet. About how Jenova was trying to not only destroy this Planet, but actually take over the entire universe. The whole universe is in jeopardy…"

Cloud stared at her. "The… the entire universe? You're joking, right?"

"I wish. She told me once, Cloud, that without the Cetra and without Sephiroth on our side, you and she are the only ones who can stop what's coming."

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, no pressure there… Did she say _how _I could help?"

"No… Probably just keep doing what you're already doing. It seems to be working so far. Also…" She looked at Nanaki, and then back at Cloud. "One of the last things she told me… Cloud, can Nanaki know? About…?"

Cloud sighed, knowing she meant Sephiroth. "Yeah. If he won't tell anyone else, and if you think he can handle it."

Deneh nodded. "He can handle it." She looked at Nanaki. "Nanaki… Sephiroth is back. Um… without his memories, though…" She stopped herself, letting Nanaki think for a minute. She obviously wanted to say something, but apparently couldn't.

Nanaki sighed deeply. "Well… Cloud, what are you doing about this? And why didn't you tell the rest of us?"

Cloud shook his head. "I didn't say anything because I don't want anyone to get hurt. And… I'm trying to figure out a way to get him on our side without letting him know that he nearly destroyed the Planet just because he thought that was what his 'mother' wanted."

Nanaki shook his head. "Cloud, you need to stop taking everything on by yourself. Are you sure that you're doing the right thing?"

"I know… And no, I'm not sure. But… I am doing my best to protect the Planet, like always. If Sephiroth remembers everything at any time, I'll kill him. Simple as that. For now, though, I might as well figure out how to use his power to our advantage. Something big is coming, and it would be good if he was helping us prepare for it…"

Deneh nodded. "Minerva told me that his _true _level of power is unimaginable. However, he has never been able to tap into it, no matter how hard he's tried. Probably because of Jenova, who keeps him on a tight leash. Unfortunately, whoever they are working with is even _more _powerful. One of them, at least."

"They're working with more than one person?"

"Two others. One is less powerful than Sephiroth, although not by too much. The other, though… Well, let's say that you're going to have to be lucky. Or, perhaps you can even succeed in getting Sephiroth to help you." She shrugged. "Although honestly, in my opinion, you'll do that the day Jenova joins your team," she teased. Cloud knew she was right, too; it didn't matter what Sephiroth thought as long as Jenova was monitoring his every move…

Cloud shrugged. "Yeah, I know you're right… But who knows. Maybe she may actually figure out that she _should _join us."

_**Yeah. And maybe chocobos will learn how to drive Fenrir.**_

Cloud smirked, as he had somewhat expected her to make a comment. Deneh seemed to note the fact that someone was talking to him. She shook her head. "Anyways… Cloud, is there anything else you want to know?"

"Yeah. Who _exactly _is Jenova working with?"

"I don't know for sure, and I don't want to say anything until I'm positive."

"Okay…"

Deneh sighed. "But, if I'm right… You'll need the help of everyone you can get. Alright?"

Cloud nodded. "Got it… Now, um… why are we up here?"

Deneh thought for a moment. "Hmm? Oh, you mean the observatory? Well… Because I wanted to show you what I mean when I say that the entire unverse is in jeopardy."

She walked over to the platform in the center of the room, leaving Cloud and Nanaki to follow her. Once they were all on the platform, they rode it up to the model of the universe.

Cloud looked around. "It's been awhile since I was in here…"

Deneh shook her head. "I've never been in here that I can remember, but I know how it works. Alright, so look. This is what the universe looks like right now, right?" she said, watching the cosmos whip by until they were all looking at the Planet.

Cloud nodded, and Deneh looked down at the Planet. "Well… watch this."

Suddenly, all lights on the Planet went dark. The Planet itself seemed to darken. The Planet became red, looking much like it did the last time Cloud had seen it like this. One by one, the other planets nearby started to look the same. The entire universe seemed to completely darken, and the stars all blinked out. The only illumination was the red glow coming from the different planets.

Cloud shook his head. "Is everyone… dead?"

Deneh looked up at him. "No. They're slaves and prisoners, cursed to serve the darkness."

"Oh… And the Lifestream?"

"Gone. And Minerva is either dead or a prisoner, which is strangely possible."

Cloud sighed. "Great. Just perfect. So if I can't beat Jenova, Sephiroth, and two other obscenely powerful people, the entire universe is going to be taken over by the darkness? And it will all be my fault if I don't succeed?"

"Yeah, basically."

"Gee, thanks."

Deneh smirked. "There's no reason to try and make you feel better about it. If I told you it was going to be easy, I'd be lying. And there's no point in lying about that. If you can't save us, Cloud Strife, then we're all damned. Sure, we'll all try to help. Right, Nanaki?"

Nanaki nodded. "Of course! But… I've known all along, that you are the only one that can defeat the true threats to this world. I don't know _how _you can, but you can."

Cloud nodded. "Right… So… Will there be any way to defeat our enemies if the universe gets destroyed first?"

"Perhaps, but only if Minerva is still alive. That's a possibility, but a very slim one. And in order for Minerva to live while the Planet and the Lifestream are dead, it must be done on purpose and very precisely, otherwise she'll die along with the Lifestream. So you'd better hope that Jenova and her allies want Minerva alive for some reason…"

"Oh…" Cloud sighed, looking around at a universe taken over by chaos and darkness. Was this what they were truly headed towards…? And he was the only one who could either stop or reverse it… Maybe he should try telling Sephiroth about a few things; after all, Sephiroth _was_ incredibly powerful, and would probably be able to help… But that may not end up well…

Deneh looked at the dead Planet. "Staying in that altar all those years should have prevented this. But… Ah, it doesn't matter. There's no time to think of the past; we must focus on the future now. We _must _stop this from happening."

Nanaki nodded. "And by 'we', she sort of means you, Cloud. But we'll help!"

Cloud smirked. "Of course…"

Deneh sighed, leading Cloud and Nanaki back over to the platform in the center of the room. "Cloud… I think you have someone waiting for you, correct? And Nanaki and I should get some rest…"

Cloud nodded. "Oh, right."

Deneh let the platform descend, and Cloud looked back at the universe one last time. If he didn't do something soon, this may be exactly what he was heading towards. And he couldn't let that happen. He _would _protect everyone…

No matter _what_ he had to do.


	19. A Chaotic Truth

_**Finally… It's about time a few things start getting revealed… What? Oh, a**__**hem, I keep on forgetting that everything I say gets put into this and seen by you guys reading this right now… Just ignore my random comments, alright? Anyways…**_

* * *

_**A Chaotic Truth**_

Cloud looked back at Deneh and Nanaki as the three walked over to Fenrir. Deneh seemed to hear something up on a ledge, but she didn't seem to see anything when she looked up there. It had to be Genesis, as you would have needed to have wings to get up there…

"You'll keep in touch, right?" Nanaki asked. Cloud nodded, getting on Fenrir.

"Of course I will. When I can, of course. Remember, I've got a lot going on at the moment…"

Nanaki sighed. "I know… I just want to make sure you're alright."

"I'll be fine; don't worry about me."

Deneh nodded. "At least for now, Nanaki, Cloud is perfectly fine. He has many people watching over him." She looked up at a nearby stone pillar, seeming to be watching something… or some_one. _Who could have gotten up on that pillar…? Just like the ledge, you would need to fly to get up there. But how could Genesis have gotten from the ledge to the pillar so quickly…? Deneh sighed. "Some a bit more persistent than others; even when they are told to _take a damn break_…"

Cloud shook his head. "Um… What? Do you know something I don't?"

"Yes. But… don't ask. Only… one… two… three… four? No, five. Only- wait! Six. Forgot about… right. Only six other people besides me know… one by accident, the others on purpose. So much conspiracy… I just wish I knew two of their identities…"

"Again I say: what?"

Deneh smiled slightly, almost cruelly, and shrugged. Although Cloud got the feeling that the motion wasn't directed at him. She then looked back at Cloud. "Never mind. It's… unimportant at the moment. So… see you later? I'll contact you if I ever hear from Minerva again, alright?"

Cloud nodded. "Right. Yeah, see you later."

Nanaki looked up at the pillar, and then looked at Deneh. "Was someone up there…?"

Deneh shook her head. "Nobody you need to worry about."

"Right… Well, I guess that it doesn't matter, then. Bye, Cloud."

"Right. Bye," Cloud said, kicking Fenrir into gear and taking off towards Midgar, hoping that Shelke would still be there when he got back…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Cloud pulled to a stop in front of 7th Heaven. Luckily, he saw that Shelke was still there, talking to Tifa. Marlene and Denzel were nowhere to be found, so they were probably asleep. Actually, _Denzel _was probably asleep, and Marlene was either talking to the Cetra or up on the roof. There was no question there.

Cloud walked inside. Tifa and Shelke stood up almost immediately. What had they been talking about…? Ah, it didn't matter.

Shelke nodded. "Ah, speak of the… uh… Cloud. So, what happened?"

Cloud shrugged. "Nanaki was reunited with an old friend." Cloud remembered that Deneh didn't want him to say anything, so he decided that he would keep his word and not say anything.

Tifa paused. "An old friend…?"

"Yeah, another member of his species. But that's not really important at the moment…" Should he tell them how much danger they were in? Yes, he should. But… would that be best? Probably not… "What's really important at the moment is Shelke. How did your day go?"

Shelke shrugged. "Fine, considering it was my last day for at least a few weeks… Cloud, did something happen at Cosmo Canyon?"

Cloud sighed. He couldn't hide anything from them… He decided to tell them what he had witnessed, and he quickly did so. When he was done, Tifa shook her head. "Well, this is just great… So we're going to have to figure out how to get Sephiroth on our side after all?"

Cloud shrugged. "Probably, although I doubt that it will be easy. He's on our side for right now, but that can all change in an instant once he gets his memories back. And he will, at some time…"

Shelke looked out the window. "Well… Perhaps we can work around that. If he feels as though you've been there for him this whole time that he's been weak, perhaps he'll realized that you're actually the good guy. Then maybe, just _maybe, _he'll stay on our side."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, that may work…"

_**Forgetting something important about that plan?**_

Cloud hung his head. "Oh yeah. Jenova…"

"Oh, right…" Shelke said unhappily. "What will she do if we try to get him on our side, exactly…?"

_**Simple. If you succeed – which you won't – then I'll just kill you guys and get Sephiroth to remember who the best side in this is.**_

Cloud thought for a moment. "But you can't kill us; not really… right?"

'_**Can' and 'will' are two very different things, you see. I could, if I wanted to. But correct; I'm not going to, for reasons I am not going to tell you. But again I say: I have no reason **_**not **_**to kill your friends, so they will want to be careful. And then there's you, Cloud Strife. I can't exactly kill **_**you, **_**but I **_**can **_**make your life a living hell. Got it? **_

"Got it," Cloud said, looking over at Tifa and Shelke and repeating what Jenova had told him.

Tifa thought for a moment. "Why can't she kill you…? Okay, that came out wrong. I mean that it's not a bad thing, of course, but… She must have a reason. And what about us? Why doesn't she want to kill _us_ yet?"

Cloud shrugged. "Who knows…? Don't try to understand her motives. None of us will ever get it. I remember Sephiroth saying something once about having multiple plans that twist around everything you think is happening. And when you finally think you have everything figured out, the person will reveal their true plan and still end up surprising you. I think that he was talking about what Jenova was doing, without even realizing what he was saying."

Shelke nodded. "So… then we just have to ignore whatever she says and figure out what she's _really _doing. We can't let her kill any of us; _especially _Cloud, since he's got the best chance of defeating her and whoever she's working with…"

_**Heh, good luck with that. You guys are **_**slow, **_**so he'll already be dead when you figure it out…**_

Cloud shrugged. "Apparently, her main plan includes my death…"

Tifa shook her head. "Why would she be keeping you alive just to kill you in the end…?"

_**My final plan has many parts, in which I'm going to need to force you to help me with one of them. Ah, I can't wait until that day comes…**_

Cloud sighed. "What do you need _me _for…? Can't you just use Sephiroth…?"

_**I **_**could, **_**but I'd rather he**__**doesn't di– You know what? I'm not going to say anything more.**_

Cloud shook his head. "So whatever you need me to do will kill me, then…"

_**You **_**just **_**figured that out…?**_

"I had my theories…" Cloud thought for a moment. There _had _to be a way to survive this… He looked back at Shelke and Tifa, who were waiting patiently for him to say anything. "Ah, it doesn't matter right now, really. We'll figure it out, eventually. We don't even know who we're dealing with, so we should probably figure that out before anything else…"

Shelke nodded. "Yes. But you're going to have to figure it out without me, as I need to get going…"

"Oh, right," Cloud said. They all stood up.

Tifa hugged Shelke. "We'll miss you, Shelke. Come back soon, alright? You're always welcome here."

Shelke smiled. "Thanks. I'll be back soon; don't worry about me. Meanwhile, you guys are the ones being basically held hostage…"

Cloud shrugged. "We'll make it through. Don't worry about us, alright? Also, remember that you need to see if Yuffie knows anything."

"Don't worry. If she knows something, she won't be able to hold it from me for long."

Then, though, Yuffie and Vincent walked in through the front doors.

"Surprise! Miss us?" Yuffie said, back to her energetic self. Cloud smirked.

"Not really," he teased. Yuffie pouted.

"Well that's just rude. So! Shelke, are you ready to go? Reeve sent us to get you."

Shelke nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready." She turned back to Cloud and Tifa. "See you guys later," she said, smiling.

Tifa and Cloud nodded. "See you soon!" they both said.

Shelke walked over to Yuffie and Vincent. Before they left, though, Vincent walked over to Cloud. "Cloud, I need to speak with you. Now."

"I-" Cloud started to say, but Vincent didn't wait for an answer. He led Cloud upstairs without even explaining. Then, he looked at Cloud with the strangest look in his eyes.

"Cloud… Something has been… _wrong _with Chaos lately."

"…'Wrong'? What do you mean?"

"I don't truly know… But… Listen, this is going to make me sound insane. However, you must believe me…"

Cloud looked at Vincent with a dubious expression. "Okay…"

Vincent nodded. "And you cannot tell anyone."

"Got it. Please, do tell."

"Alright, well… about a week or two ago, I made a comment… I don't even remember what it was about, but… I think Chaos talked to me."

Cloud stared at him. "You're… you're joking, right?"

"I don't joke, Cloud. I swear; I heard him. He was annoyed with me. I don't know where he had been for so long, but I think he's actually in this world now. I haven't told anyone until now… I could try speaking to him again, if it will make you believe me."

Cloud shook his head, unable to believe this. Chaos must have arrived at around the same time Jenova and Sephiroth did. Was this who Jenova was working with?

_**Wow, you **_**are **_**slow, aren't you? It's about time you figured that out… But oh well. Looks like there's another pawn in the game now…**_

Cloud finally couldn't handle it, and he slammed his fist against the wall. "Damn it, Jenova! Is this all a game to you? We're not just your pawns!"

_**Oh I'm **_**sorry**_**, did I make you mad? Oh well. Now, try explaining that outburst to your friend…**_

Cloud froze. He had completely forgotten about Vincent for that one second. Vincent was staring at him in disbelief. "Did… did you just say 'Jenova'? As in… as in Jenova? That alien thing?"

_**Well now, that's quite rude…**_

Cloud sighed. He had to tell Vincent, if Vincent had a part in this. "Yes. Yes, I did. Because of the experiments Hojo did on me, she's able to talk to me. Just like you and Chaos." Cloud couldn't help it and told Vincent what was going on. He told him everything that he knew, from Sephiroth being back to Jenova and apparently Chaos trying to take over the universe. When he was done, Vincent just stared at him.

"I… you… Why didn't you tell us? This has to do with us, too, you know! If Sephiroth truly is back… What are we going to do when he gets his memories back? We're as good as dead…"

Cloud shook his head. "Not if we can get him on our side first."

"Is such a feat accomplishable?"

"I sure hope so…"

Vincent nodded. "We should probably get back downstairs… I assume Tifa and Shelke know? That's what you were talking to Shelke about when we went to the cavern, wasn't it…?"

"Yes and yes."

"Alright… And does Yuffie know?"

Cloud paused. "I… don't know. She seems to know something, yes, but _I _never told her…"

"You said Sephiroth is in Midgar, right…? She was sent there yesterday, and she was acting strangely when she came back. She said that she didn't find anything, but I don't think any of us really believed her. However, Reeve trusted her enough to know that if she was keeping a secret, she _needed _to. So it seems that she saw him…"

Cloud sighed. "So it _was _her… Jenova told me that someone was watching us, but she wasn't sure who… Now we know. But there's something still bothering me… Yuffie didn't tell _me _either. And she had the chance to multiple times…"

Vincent shrugged. "She must know something we don't…"

"Something that Marlene knows as well."

"Marlene…?"

Cloud nodded. "Oh, yeah. Marlene knows a_ lot, _because she's being watched over by two Cetra that seem to tell her everything… Oh, speaking of Marlene…" Cloud noted that they were very near her room. He walked silently over to her door and opened it swiftly. The door slammed into her and she fell to the ground, stunned. Cloud couldn't help but notice that her satchel was still on her bed instead of on her shoulder for the first time in awhile. Why…? Oh, of course. Because she was wearing the Cetra's necklace, so there was no need to put it in the satchel.

Cloud smirked. "Hey."

Marlene shook her head. "Oh! I, uh…"

Cloud sighed, helping her to her feet. "There's no need for you to hide, Marlene. I know how much you know…"

Marlene sighed, looking out at Vincent. "Yeah, but I doubt you would have told me about Chaos…"

Vincent shrugged. "You're different than the last time we met… is there something going on besides the Cetra?"

"Uh, no. No, of course not."

"Sure…" Vincent sighed. "Well, we should probably get going… Cloud, if I hear anything from Chaos, I promise to tell you."

Cloud nodded. "Alright. Then… let's get back downstairs. Maybe we can get Yuffie to admit she saw Sephiroth…"

Marlene's entire demeanor changed. "Perhaps… perhaps I should be the one to talk to her."

Cloud narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I noticed that she had said something that caught your attention… Marlene, is there something you're not telling us?"

"Didn't you already ask me that, and I said 'yes'? But… You can't know. There are already six others who know, thanks to Yuffie's accidental discovery…"

"Six…? And an accident… Wait! Deneh said something about that."

Marlene nodded. "Oh. You met Deneh? I forgot that she got out today…"

Cloud tilted his head. "You know Deneh…?"

"I don't _know _her, but the Cetra told me about her."

"Right… And do you know who was watching me at Cosmo Canyon? They were up on a ledge first, and then got to a stone pillar. It had to have been Genesis, though… right?"

Marlene thought for a moment. "Yes… yes, it was probably Genesis…"

Cloud nodded. "Alright then. So… let's go."

The three of them walked downstairs. Tifa raised an eyebrow at Marlene, who shrugged. Yuffie glanced over at Marlene, who looked straight back at her. They exchanged a silent sentence with just their looks, and Marlene sighed. "Yuffie… Can I talk to you?"

Yuffie nodded, smiling slightly. "Of course. I have a… a few things to discuss with you…"

Marlene and Yuffie walked upstairs. Vincent sighed. "How long is this going to take…? We need to get going…"

Shelke glanced at Cloud. "Well, Marlene will need to find out about a few things… Vincent, do you know?"

"Yes."

Shelke nodded. "Alright, good. Marlene needs to get Yuffie to say whether or not she knows about Sephiroth being back… She obviously found _something _out on her expedition to Midgar…"

Cloud shrugged. "But it's not really important if she did. We just need to make sure she won't tell anyone."

After all, what else could she possibly know that Cloud didn't?

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Yuffie followed Marlene up onto the roof. They had both agreed to go up there so that Cloud and the others couldn't hear them.

Marlene shook her head. "So you know, right?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright," Marlene said, glancing past Yuffie for one second and then looking back at her. "How much do you know?"

"Ummm… A lot. I know that Sephiroth _does _have his memories, and that you are one of the _very _few who know. He's fooling Cloud for some reason – I don't know _how _Cloud hasn't found out yet – as well as many others. Sephiroth is also protecting Cloud for some reason, even though he denies it. And you seem to have something that allows you to not be afraid of him, which I just don't really get. And-"

"So, basically, you heard our entire conversation in Midgar yesterday?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, basically."

"Will you tell anyone?"

"Nope. I'm fairly certain I'll die if I do."

Marlene smiled slightly. "Doubtful, but possible."

"Well, isn't that just great? But, Marlene… why aren't you telling Cloud? Sephiroth… he's going to kill him! I thought you were Cloud's friend?"

She nodded. "I am. Sephiroth isn't going to kill him. Jenova has a use for him, so his safety is assured… for now. But if he knows too soon… he may not make it far enough to help anyone."

"So we're all doomed anyways, then?"

"Basically," a third voice said from behind Yuffie. Yuffie instantly recognized it as Sephiroth's voice.

"_Eeeep_!" Yuffie cried out, leaping away from him and landing next to Marlene, who couldn't help but smile slightly. Great to know that she found the fact Yuffie had almost been killed to be entertaining…

Sephiroth shrugged. "What? I thought you would have heard me, and Marlene didn't make any move to notify you, so I just waited to say something…"

Yuffie shook her head. So _that _had been what Marlene had looked at for a split-second… "Well… I, um… I… Please don't kill me?"

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "Eh, there's no real point to, yet."

"Oh, that makes me feel _so much _better…" she muttered sarcastically. He wouldn't kill her 'yet'? What did that mean, exactly…?

Marlene sighed. Why was she so mature all of a sudden? And how was she so confident, when she knew that Sephiroth could probably kill them both with a single thought? "Anyways… I think we're done here."

Yuffie shook her head. "Oh, um… Can I ask…? What's your plan for all of us, exactly?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "I don't have a plan for any of you. You'd need to ask Mother. She's the one who knows what's really going on…"

"'Mother'…? Oh, Jenova. Right… But, um, I don't think I can…"

Marlene shook her head. "Not true. She's watching all of us when she can, and since you know, she'll be paying more attention to you than to others. Try talking to her whenever you feel as though someone is watching you, and she may just answer. She _does _have a physical form now, so…"

Yuffie tilted her head. "And how is it you know that…?"

Sephiroth seemed interested in Marlene's answer as well, but Marlene only smirked. "Cetra. Duh. You really think they wouldn't know…?"

Sephiroth nodded. "True. Anyways, you both need to leave."

Marlene nodded. "Right. But, Sephiroth… Stay here. I'll be right back, as I want to ask you something…"

He paused. "Something that Yuffie can't hear…?"

"Probably, as I am assuming the answer."

"Ah."

What was so important that Yuffie couldn't hear? But Yuffie wasn't about to argue with anyone – even though she desperately wanted to – as she knew how perilous her current situation was. So _this _was why Cloud hadn't wanted anyone to know; he didn't want anyone to feel this helpless.

Yuffie followed Marlene downstairs. Everyone was sitting at a table and waiting for them. They all stood up as the two entered the room.

Cloud glanced at Yuffie. "So…? Do you know?"

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Marlene shot a quick glance of warning at Yuffie, who wondered what had happened to the innocent little girl she had once known. Was Sephiroth's presence – or perhaps even Jenova's – somehow influencing her? "Well… I was a bit… scared to?"

Vincent sighed. "It doesn't matter right now. We have to _go. _We can all talk about it on our way back, alright?"

"Right…" Yuffie thought for a moment. Why was _she _so scared? She was Yuffie Kisaragi! The Single White Rose of Wutai! The greatest ninja in the world! She didn't have anything to fear! Except death, maybe… But no, she wouldn't die! She'd find a way to make it through this, without a doubt. She always found a way to win every situation, and this was no different. Sort of…

Yuffie followed Vincent and Shelke outside, looking back one last time at Marlene, and then at Cloud and Tifa. Then, she looked up at the roof, to where she just barely saw Sephiroth watching her. She swallowed hard and turned back to Vincent and Shelke, hoping that she could keep this huge secret long enough…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth watched Yuffie, Vincent, and Shelke walk off. He didn't know how long Marlene would be, but he hoped she wouldn't take very long. Of course, he didn't necessarily have anything else to do, so it didn't really matter…

"What are you doing here?" Sephiroth asked, noting that Jenova was watching him from the roof of the next house. At least, he was pretty certain that she was, as he could barely see her. "You really don't trust me so much?"

"Nah," she said, sitting down. Yep; definitely Jenova. "It's not that I don't trust _you _– sort of. I mainly don't trust Marlene."

"Right… Can they hear us?"

"Doubt it."

"Well, that's comforting…" he muttered sarcastically. "What are they talking about, anyways?"

"Hmm… Cloud wants them to all get some rest because it's been a long day and it's going to be a long day tomorrow, so nothing really new there. Tifa says that they should talk more about- uh, someone. And Marlene thinks that they should all get some rest as well; probably because she wants to get back to talk to you as quickly as she can."

Sephiroth tilted his head. "'Someone'? Come on, seriously? Why can't I know who we're working with…?"

"Well… Later, alright? It's best I don't tell you yet… Unfortunately, Cloud and his party have figured it out half of the way…"

"Oh, great… Half of the way, though? Can't you tell me who the other person is?"

"I would if I knew…"

Sephiroth sighed. "Oh… What are they saying now?"

"Cloud just sent Marlene to her room, but we won't be seeing her until the others are asleep. Tifa asks what Vincent told Cloud, and how he found out about us. Cloud says that he and Vincent figured out about one of the people we're working with, and then I made him mad because I'm a- Okay, I'm not repeating that. Anyways, Tifa laughs, and she suggests that they _should _get some rest. Finally…"

Sephiroth smirked. "How can you hear all of that…?"

"Oh, I can't. I may have good hearing, but not _that _good. They're inside a closed, practically soundproof building two buildings away… You see, I can tap into Cloud's mind to see and hear everything that's happening."

"Ah. I've got to learn how to do that…"

Jenova shrugged. "Anyways, Marlene will be here soon, so I should disappear…"

"I'm guessing that you're not actually leaving, though…"

"Now you're starting to get it!" She backed up, appearing to instantly disappear. However, Sephiroth knew that she was still there. Not soon after, Marlene walked up onto the roof.

"Hey, Marlene…" Sephiroth said, sighing. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Marlene thought for a moment. "Only one thing: Were you in Cosmo Canyon today?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah. You really think I would miss all of that? Anyways, why?"

"When Cloud left, where were you?"

"On a pillar. Deneh saw me, and I was worried at first. However, she seemed to know everything that was going on…"

"Just on a pillar? Were you ever on a cliff?"

"No… why?"

Marlene shook her head, looking quite worried. "Was Genesis there? Or perhaps a large demon?"

"Uh… no and no. A large demon?"

"I can't tell you who you're working with; you have to figure it out yourself. So no and no… Who else could it be…? You're _positive _Genesis wasn't there?"

"I doubt he would have not said anything if he saw me. Plus, I would have sensed his aura. I wasn't necessarily _looking _for him, but I'd recognize Genesis's aura…"

"Then it must have been… But that's not good at all. If he can watch Cloud without _you _knowing… I may have an issue…"

"Um… what?"

Marlene shook her head. "Someone was watching Cloud today; someone _besides _you. And they were watching him – and probably you – from up on a ledge. They could have only gotten up there by flying. If it wasn't you or Genesis, then it must have been the one you're working with…"

Sephiroth shook his head, getting impatient. "Can't you just tell me who I'm working with? I think I deserve to know…"

Sephiroth didn't expect Jenova to say anything in front of Marlene, but she did. "Fine, fine. Go ahead and tell him… He won't even remember who it is, anyways. None of them remember any of the cycles…" Jenova said from the shadows of the roof nearby. Marlene froze.

"Who… wait, was that… Jenova?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes it was."

Marlene looked worried, and Sephiroth realized for the first time that he couldn't feel her emotions. Oh, duh. She was an empath as well… Well, it was still obvious why she was worried: the enemy of the ones protecting her was dangerously close. She must have felt threatened…

Marlene nodded, still looking worried. "Right… Well, you're working with the archdemon/ god, Chaos. He doesn't really care about taking revenge on Onrac anymore, but he knows that he'll affect them as well with his knew, ambitious plan…"

"A… a god?" Sephiroth's heart sunk. If Chaos wanted to kill him… This wasn't going to be easy…

"Yes."

"Hmm… And here I was worried that Cloud might end up winning… He has no chance."

Marlene shrugged. "Chaos has been beaten before, twice. But the first time was when he was _much _weaker than now. The second time was when eleven of the strongest warriors of harmony were gathered together, and he was still weaker than he is now. And both times, they barely survived. Now that Chaos is back again, he's much more powerful. And this is the world where the final battle shall take place; not a crossroads where the warriors of harmony can gather to defeat him again. Besides, even if this _was _that world, it still wouldn't matter. Chaos is different now; none of them would be able to wound him in the slightest. Only Cloud can… but he still doesn't have much of a chance. Which is why he needs help. But… there's really nobody to help him besides me and my Cetra friends. And perhaps Genesis. But anyone else is either dead or too weak."

"And the goddess Minerva?"

"Oh, yes… her too…"

Sephiroth sighed. "Hmm… seems we're going to win, then."

"Yes, I know," Marlene unhappily admitted.

"Er, whose side are you on, exactly?"

"The side of good, obviously. It's just that I'm looking realistically at our chances. But we _shall _fight, do you understand? We still have a chance to win. If nothing else, we shall get incredibly close. And if we die, we shall die fighting for what's right, and knowing how close we were."

"No, Marlene," Sephiroth said, smiling. "Evil shall land the last blow in this battle. Marlene, everything… Ah, never mind, really. But you'd best prepare now for what's coming, alright?"

Marlene glared at him. "I _am_ prepared for what's coming. Are you?"

"Indeed I am."

Marlene smirked, walking back inside. But before she shut the door, she looked back at him. "Good. Then you're prepared to die." She then closed the door behind her.

Sephiroth shrugged. "So be it," he whispered to himself.

Sephiroth sat down, prepared for another long night. However, he still couldn't help but think: if it hadn't been him and it hadn't been Genesis watching Cloud, then who had it been? It was unlikely that it was Chaos… Sephiroth was fairly certain he would have noticed a large demon. Could it have been Minerva? It was definitely possible, but there was no way she could have been at Cosmo Canyon, right?

So that just left the question open: Who could have possibly been watching Cloud and Sephiroth?


	20. Too Close for Comfort

**A/N: Hey everyone, sorry it took so long for me to update. I couldn't get my computer to stay on for more than a few minutes without it restarting, so I gave it two weeks off. Luckily, that seemed to have worked XD. And then, after I got it to work, I got into AMV's again and couldn't write for the life in me. So… I'll try to update as often as I can now. Although, I won't have access to my computer for a few days, but I'll try my hardest to find a way to write.**

**Just a note: this chapter is just kind of like a filler, and a chance to bring in Jenova and my sort-of-OC again. So I apologize beforehand if it's a bit slow. But I'm looking forward to the next chapter – which is much more exciting and important – so it should be done soon.**

**Oh! And I'm going to add something to the beginning of the first chapter of this story again – just a little glimpse into the future of the story. So, yeah, check that out if you want. And if you **_**do **_**read it, or you already have because you started the story after I updated that chapter… don't kill me like my friend tried to, because… well, you'll see when we actually get to the last chapter (I've already written most of it, but I'm not going to give any more away). **

**EDIT: HEY I JUST REALIZED!**

_**...? Eh?**_

**A/N: SHE STOLE MY NAME! I know it was an alias, but still! I'm the only me there is! **

_**That's great, Guen... Can we get back to the present chapter...?**_

**A/N: Oh, yeah. Carry on, Lurkers.  
**

**[-Disclaimer- I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of the characters. I also don't own Tarja (I have a nod to a song in this chapter).]**

* * *

_**Hmm… Oh, **_**now **_**I get it! I can't believe I never put that together… I just realized the irony of- Huh? Oh, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyways...**_

* * *

_**Too Close For Comfort**_

"_Hey, Cloud? Can you hear me?"_

"…_Zack?"_

_Cloud shook his head, opening his eyes. Zack was standing in front of him, looking quite relaxed. "Hey, chocobo-head! Sorry I didn't contact you sooner… I guess I just got kind of carried away."_

"_With…?" Cloud asked, ignoring Zack's annoying nickname for him._

_Zack shrugged. "Finding others that are still alive in the Lifestream. 'Alive' being a relative term, of course. But you know what I mean. Anyways, I've found some of your old friends… I can't find one of mine, but he's too stubborn to disappear, so I'll find him within the next day or so. Other than that, the only one left is Aerith… I haven't been in contact with her _at all _lately… I'm getting a bit worried, honestly. So… How are things on your side?"_

"_Uh… good? Well, not really, of course. I found out that Jenova is working with Chaos-"_

"_Wait wait wait… What? You're joking, right? So _that's_ what she was trying to say… You see, Aerith started acting weird before she got blocked off from me. The last thing she said was 'Chaos is coming. You have to help Cloud.' I thought she was speaking figuratively, you know? And it was weird that that was all she said before she disappeared, but… now I guess we know why…"_

_Cloud nodded. "Yeah… Things are pretty bleak on this side… And Jenova still has one more person one her side that we don't have a clue as to who it is… For all I know, it could be someone I know well…"_

"_Yeah… I hope it's not Hojo… Anyways, I'd still rather be there than here, honestly. I get the feeling I'll be back soon, though."_

"_Back…? You mean…?"_

_Zack nodded. "That's right. I've got the feeling that I'm getting revived pretty soon! Although, that's probably not good, but hey! It's better than nothing, right?"_

"_Yeah, I guess… Is that possible, though?"_

"_Not really sure… I would _assume _so, since you and Sephiroth have done it enough times. The thing is… _who _is going to revive me? I'd think that goddess, uh… Minerva. But I thought I would have encountered her by now… I honestly get the feeling that she's on _your _side lately… As in, the real world."_

"_Hmm… I don't see how, but… Ah, we'll figure it out, right?"_

_Zack nodded. "Exactly. So… Has Aerith tried contacting you lately? Or has anyone else…?"_

"'_Anyone else'…? Er, no, I don't think so…"_

_Zack sighed. "That's too bad… Ah, oh well. Let's just keep trying to figure it out, alright? I'll contact you if I hear anything from anyone, alright?"_

_Cloud nodded. "Yeah, right…"_

Cloud's dream disappeared, and he instantly woke up.

Cloud noted that Tifa was already gone as he slowly sat up. He thought about what Zack had said. So Aerith had already known about Chaos…? Why hadn't she contacted Cloud as soon as she had found out?

"Hmm… Perhaps she was worried you would get yourself into trouble. Heh, and yet here we are, so she really shouldn't have kept it from you." Cloud froze, hearing the voice coming from over near his window. No… that couldn't be…

Jenova walked over to Cloud, grinning. "You seriously underestimate me. Anyways… _Hey, _maybe _that's _why she was trying to contact you in the Forgotten City! Although, she shouldn't have been able to… Eh, you were quite close to the White Materia, so that must have been the reason she could contact you…"

Cloud shook his head. "Wait, what? I was near the White Materia…?"

"Yeah… Anyways…"

Cloud glared at her. "How long have you been here…?"

"All night."

"Shouldn't you have been watching Sephiroth instead of me…?"

"I was doing both." She paused as though she hadn't thought about that sentence before saying it, but then simply smirked. "Honestly, you underestimate me. I can watch you both from here…"

"Yeah, right…"

She smiled slyly. "It's a lot easier than you know. But that's not what's important at the moment… Cetra girl knows about Chaos. Hmm…" She froze. "Does she know about…?" She shook her head. "No… no, she doesn't. Of course; how could I have forgotten?"

"Uh… what?"

"You have no idea what's going on, do you?"

"Not really."

"Good. It's best you don't know what's ahead of you until it's time."

Cloud sighed. "I'm tired of being kept in the dark. If I'm so important, don't I deserve to know what's going on?"

"Uh, no. No, not really." She looked back at him. "Besides… you don't _want _to know."

"So I'm going to die. What's new? That doesn't scare me."

"It should. If you die, the world dies. Everyone you know and love dies. And the Lifestream dies, so your consciousness is simply thrown into oblivion. Get it?"

Cloud shook his head, looking away. "Got it. Now can you leave? I'm going to get as much as I can done today, since I told Sephiroth I wouldn't be back until tomorrow…"

"You said 'maybe', or something along those lines. I know why you really don't want him to come with… The delivery you want to get done today is at Icicle Inn, correct?"

"How do _you _know that?"

"I know _everything,_" she said, grinning. "You don't want him to go there, because you don't want him to remember the past. And if he _does, _he's way too close to the Northern Crater then, correct? And, perhaps, the Black Materia. Huh… I wonder what ever happened to it… eh, it doesn't matter anymore. Now, you should get going… I have a feeling that this will all be very amusing…"

Cloud rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, since he had already been dressed. Marlene was just walking out of her room… great…

Marlene looked up at Cloud. "Were you just talking to someone…?"

Cloud glanced into his room, were Jenova was still standing, obviously quite amused with Cloud's current situation. Cloud shook his head, looking at Marlene. "No… why?"

Marlene rolled her eyes and pushed past him, walking past Cloud's room. Cloud saw her eyes move sideways to look into his room for a moment, and she smiled slightly before walking downstairs.

Cloud looked into his room, but Jenova was already gone. Had Marlene seen her, or had she seen something else that Cloud wasn't noticing…?

Cloud walked downstairs after Marlene. Tifa looked up. "Sheesh, you both have been sleeping in quite a lot…"

Cloud smirked. "I had a reason…"

Tifa raised an eyebrow, but then shook her head when she noticed that Denzel was nearby. She sighed. "What are you doing today?"

"Going up to Icicle Inn for a delivery."

"Icicle Inn…? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Cloud shrugged. "Well, I'm going by myself, so it's probably fine."

"Alright… good luck…"

Cloud nodded, smiling at her and walking out of 7th Heaven, although not before giving Marlene an 'I'm watching you' kind of look, to which she only smiled innocently.

Cloud got on Fenrir and started up north, hoping things wouldn't go wrong…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Cloud looked around as he pulled to a stop in the snowy village. He should have been cold, but the weather didn't bother him as much as it would have bothered a normal person.

_**Ah, Icicle Inn… **_Jenova said, making Cloud look around for her. _**We all learned something here… You and your party learned some things about Professor Gast and Ifalna, and I… well, I learned you couldn't snowboard.**_

Cloud smirked, deciding to ignore her again. He quickly finished up with his deliveries, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. However, of course, that wasn't how things turned out.

Cloud walked through the snow. It was already starting to get dark, but that couldn't deter Cloud from getting back. Nobody was out there… or, at least, nobody that Cloud could see. But Cloud _did _get the feeling that someone was watching him…

"Hey, Jenova… Is there someone else here?" Cloud expected her to respond, but he honestly got a bit worried when she didn't. He wasn't worried about _her, _of course, but… Whenever she didn't respond, it was either because _she_ was planning something evil, or she was _talking_ to someone who was planning something evil. And neither could be good.

Cloud decided to look around, realizing how long it had been since he was last here. He walked around the town, noting that the cold wind was finally starting to get to him. But he ignored it, as it wasn't too bad.

Looking around, Cloud didn't even realize that he had gone outside of the boundaries of the town and was now facing the Northern Crater. He looked out at it, briefly remembering all that had happened there. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't the only one looking at the crater…

Cloud saw Jenova not too far off, simply standing there. The wind was blowing her silver hair, but she didn't seem to notice. She also didn't seem to notice that Cloud was there, so he decided to leave things that way. What was she doing…? She seemed to simply be watching the Northern Crater. But why…?

"I'd assume she's just thinking about… well, everything," a voice quietly said. The voice was familiar to Cloud, who turned his head to see the woman from Cosmo Canyon. How had she gotten all the way up here…? She didn't seem to have a vehicle, so she shouldn't be so far up north…

Cloud shook his head. "You… how… what?"

The woman smiled slightly. "It doesn't matter how I got up here."

"Okay… But how do you know about Jenova?"

"Hmm… I've learned quite a lot in my travels. Quite a lot…"

"Er… that was a bit cryptic…"

She smiled, shrugging. "Sorry."

"So… Why would Jenova care about what's happening? She tends to act as though she just goes with everything that will entertain her. After all, she doesn't care about us… We're only pawns to her. I never thought I'd see her so deep in thought…"

The woman smiled again, tilting her head. "Perhaps you're right. But even if this is only a game to her, well… to win a game, you would need strategy. She knows that better than anyone."

"How so?"

"I don't really know how to answer that."

Cloud sighed. "Of course… Ugh, I hate being kept in the dark. I don't want to do this all alone… Isn't there anyone that can possibly help me?"

She shook her head. "No one can help you."

"…What about you?"

She shook her head. "I walk alone. Every step I take, I walk alone. Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean to do that, but you made it far too easy."

"Uh… Is that one of those things that I don't understand but that Jenova probably would?"

"Yeah."

"Got it." He looked at her. "You can't help, even if the fate of the Planet depends on it?"

"Oh, I'll help. But only when it's the right time for me to step in. I can't defeat Chaos by myself… I'd be lucky to even get close. But when we have a chance to fight back… that is when I shall step forward and do all that I can."

"And what about Sephiroth? How can I fight Sephiroth, and Jenova, _and _Chaos?"

"Oh yeah, Sephiroth… Hmm… Well, you'll figure it out. You have a lot more allies than you know, and they are all much more capable than you seem to think."

Cloud shook his head. "I still don't get it…"

"You will, when the final battle comes. There are far too many twisted layers to all of this, and you won't figure any of them out until it is time…" She sighed. "But now, I must be going."

"Wait, what?"

She shrugged. "I'm sorry to leave so abruptly, but I cannot talk to you forever. There are so many other things I must be doing, to prepare for what's coming…"

Cloud nodded. "Oh… Will I see you again?"

"Yes."

"Good. Because you're one of the only ones who seems to know what's going on…" He paused. "You know what I just realized? I don't even know your name. What _is _your name?"

She thought for a moment. "Er, my name is Gueniveir."

"Are you sure about that?" Cloud asked jokingly because of the way she had paused.

She smiled. "Yeah. Alright… See you later, Cloud." She walked off then, not looking back.

"Huh… Gueniveir? I should use that name sometime…"

Cloud jumped as he heard the voice of Jenova behind him. He turned around to face her, shaking his head. "How long were you standing there…?"

"Not very long. I saw the two of you talking and decided to see what was going on. I'm honestly surprised neither of you saw or heard me…"

Cloud sighed. "Right… Well, I need to be going… I don't want to be near the Northern Crater for any longer than I have to be."

"You could have left about an hour ago, you know…"

Cloud nodded. "Yes, but I don't want _you _near the Northern Crater either."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. But you _do _know that I can come back here whenever I want, right? Just because _you're_ not here doesn't mean that _I'm _not…"

He sighed, walking towards Fenrir. "Yeah, but- ugh, it's pointless to argue with you, so I'm not even going to try."

She grinned. "So you're finally starting to get it. You're right, of course. Now… You should get going. I doubt you want to be here when it's night…"

Cloud nodded, and then got on Fenrir. "You'd better follow me…"

"You really thought I wouldn't? I have no reason to stay here…"

"Right…" Cloud's curiosity finally got the best of him. "By the way… What _were _you doing? When you were just standing there?" He may have hated Jenova, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to figure out what was going on.

Jenova sighed. "I _thought _I felt someone watching me, and when I saw the two of you, I had hoped you hadn't seen me. As to what I was doing? I was just thinking about everything. I never get the time to actually look at what's going on anymore…"

"Look at what's going on…? As in, morally?"

She laughed. "Morally? Yeah, right. It's like you don't know me at all! I'm only trying to… trying to make sure that I know exactly what's going on. I don't want anything to surprise me, and I want to know exactly what's going on at all times."

"Oh…" Cloud sighed. "Well… I guess it doesn't really matter. Just… try not to kill me now that it's almost night. At least let me get back to Midgar safely. Alright?"

"No promises…"

Cloud smirked. He then started up Fenrir and took off, looking back. It was starting to snow heavily, so he could barely see anything behind him. But he could still see Jenova, albeit barely. And… wait… was there someone next to her? He should have assumed that there had been someone else here…

Cloud shook his head, deciding to ignore them both. He just hoped that he could make it back through this blizzard…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Strangely enough, Cloud made it back to 7th Heaven without any trouble, and with the help of some amazing coincidences that he decided were Jenova's interventions.

Tifa looked exhausted, but she was still awake when Cloud walked in. She was sitting at one of the tables, and she stood up the second she saw Cloud. "Cloud! I was so worried…"

Cloud smiled slightly. "Why? I go up there from time to time…"

"Yeah, but now, things are different."

Cloud sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right… Well, I'm alright. Thanks for waiting for me…"

Tifa nodded, smiling. "Of course. Now… shall we get some rest?"

Cloud smiled slightly. "Please. I've got a long day tomorrow…"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. You're probably going to Nibelheim tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah."

Tifa nodded, and the two went upstairs.

Cloud couldn't help but worry about the next day as he slipped into his bed as soon as the lights were off. Was taking Sephiroth to Nibelheim a good idea…? Probably not. But there was also the chance that Cloud could find out more about what was going on.

Cloud let himself fall asleep, reassuring himself that everything would be fine. After all, what could _possibly _go wrong that he didn't see coming?


	21. Unfortunate Timing

**A/N: Hellooooo all of my readers. After quite a lot of writer's block, here's the next chapter. It's a bit slow in pace again, but only because I couldn't really think of what to put at parts. The next chapters will hopefully be much better, because I actually have something to do with them. And two things… First: I got a new laptop that is much better than my old one, so no more issues with it shutting down anymore XD I'll be able to update more often now, hopefully. Second: I just wanted to say to my one faithful reviewer (I have a lot of reviewers and I thank you all **_**so **_**much, but you know who you are that reviews nearly every chapter =D) that I **_**am **_**going to have a lot of CloTi moments (like in this chapter) but nothing **_**too **_**romantic until near the end, so that it's more like one of those books or movies where there's the couple you **_**know **_**is going to end up together, but**_** they**_** don't really know it and it's all dramatic-y and stuff… sorry, but I've been writing my own individual book, and so I got used to that kind of storyline… yeah, so, just saying that. Other than that… Well, that's really it for now. Oh, and, um, excuse my bits of incredibly random sort-of-comedy in this chapter. I've been incredibly busy lately, so the only Time I have to write is from midnight to around 5 a.m.… I can get a bit comical when I'm tired, so I apologize beforehand. And I'm also not so certain that I have Rufus acting entirely like he should, but again, I'm exhausted, so… Sorry, but I'm trying my best. Alright, I've wasted enough of your Time, so let's begin…**

* * *

_**Unfortunate Timing**_

When morning came around, Tifa was, as always, the first to wake up. She sighed, remembering that Cloud had to go to Nibelheim today. That _obviously _wasn't a good idea, but she knew that she couldn't stop him. She just hoped that everything would go well…

Tifa got out of bed. She was still dressed in her clothes, as she had been too stressed to change last night. Of course, she hadn't _shown _how stressed she had been… She didn't want Cloud to know how much she worried about him. How much she cared about him…

Tifa sat down on Cloud's bed, looking over at him. "Cloud… Please be careful today… I don't know what I'd do if I lost you…" She sighed, shaking her head. She wished she could say that to him when he was awake, but she was doubtful that he felt the same way about her that she felt about him. If only there was a way to know… For once, Tifa almost wished that she could contact Jenova, as she was sure to know. But Tifa would never go that far, no matter how badly she wanted to know how Cloud felt about her…

Tifa looked around the room, and then back down at Cloud. "Just… Please, survive this. So that, hopefully, I can someday tell you how I feel about you… I just hope you feel the same way…" She doubted that she would ever really be able to tell him that she had fallen for him so long ago, but she hoped that she would someday have the courage to do so.

Tifa looked around the room again. "Jenova… If you're listening… I won't let you kill him. You'll have to go through me before you can even get close to him. I'll do anything for him… and I _will _give my life instead of his. Alright? You won't win."

Tifa sighed and stood up, walking out of the room and not even considering that while she had been talking to Jenova, Jenova had actually been listening…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Cloud woke up to see Jenova standing nearby again, leaning against the wall. She was smiling to herself… Why…?

Jenova looked back at Cloud. "Wow, you have the _worst _timing. You couldn't have woken up about twenty seconds earlier…?"

Cloud shook his head, instantly awake. "Why?"

She shook her head. "No reason…"

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough."

"And that means…?"

She grinned back at him. "Oh, nothing. Anyways! Are you ready to go?"

Cloud paused. "You're in a good mood… Should I be worried…?"

She smirked. "Don't worry; I'm never in a good mood for very long. You don't have to worry about anything."

"But _why _are you in a good mood…? Oh no… who did you kill…?"

She thought for a moment. "Hmmm… Nobody that I can think of… Wow, I just realized that I haven't killed anyone recently! I should fix that soon…"

Cloud froze. "Can we just get going?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." She paused. "Hey, when you see Tifa, tell her that I _was _listening, and that I'm making no promises? But that if she ever wants to ask me what she wanted to ask me, she should just try talking out loud?"

"Uh… sure?"

Jenova nodded. "Alright, then. See you in Nibelheim. This'll be incredibly amusing, I'm sure…"

"And you're back to normal… Wait, you'll _see _me in Nibelheim?"

"Yeah, I'm getting bored with standing on the sidelines and controlling everything. I'd rather control things from on the field. Sometimes, I've learned, it's better to be an important piece on the board than to be the player at all times. I'll go back to being a player soon, but I can't take out any other pieces like that."

"Um… right…"

She shrugged. "Never mind…"

"Of course…" He sighed. "Well… Let's get going…"

Jenova nodded and disappeared. Cloud shook his head, walking downstairs. He was always so confused whenever he talked to Jenova…

Marlene and Denzel weren't downstairs, so they were probably still asleep. Tifa, however, was getting ready for the day. She looked up as Cloud approached, smiling slightly. "Hello, Cloud." She paused. "How long have you been awake…?"

Cloud shrugged. "Not very long. Um… Tifa? Jenova was up there when I woke up and she told me to tell you that she '_was _listening' and that she's 'making no promises'. And also… What was it…? Oh, yeah. If you ever want to ask her what you wanted to ask her, you should just try talking out loud."

Tifa paled. "She… she was there that whole time…?"

"Tifa… What were you trying to talk to Jenova about…?"

Tifa blushed and turned away. "Oh, um… nothing… It doesn't matter, anyways. Don't you need to get to Nibelheim?"

"Yeah, I guess… But if there's something you need to know, you can always just ask me. You know that, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course…"

Tifa turned back around. Cloud couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, even when she wasn't trying… But he couldn't think about that now. There was no way she felt the same way about him that he felt about her…

Tifa nodded. "Right, then… You should probably be going…"

Cloud nodded, sighing. He didn't want to leave so soon, but he knew that she was right. "Yeah… I promise; I'll be back as quickly as I can. I'm only going back there for a moment. Honestly, what could go wrong?"

_**Just because you said that, you'll probably run into that Shinra guy. And then Chaos will decide to stalk you. Or perhaps Genesis will show up. Or maybe a herd of wild chocobos is going to show up and try to carry you away.**_

Cloud rolled his eyes at Jenova's sarcasm. He then sighed, but smiled at Tifa. "Don't worry; everything will be fine."

She smiled gently. "I sure hope so."

Cloud nodded. "Alright… see you later?"

"Of course you will."

Cloud smiled slightly again. "Well, okay then. Bye for now." He reluctantly turned and walked outside without another word.

_**Sheesh, you two are hopeless… this is going to be harder than I thought…**_

"Huh?"

_**Oh, uh… never mind.**_

"Right…"

Cloud sighed, shaking his head. He had learned not to get into an argument with Jenova, so he just decided to ignore her. He walked over to Fenrir and leapt on, taking off towards Midgar.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

It didn't take long for Cloud to find Sephiroth, although, for once, Sephiroth didn't seem to be waiting for him. Sephiroth was sitting on top of a building with his eyes closed, not paying Cloud any attention. He only opened his eyes when Cloud called up to him.

"Um… Sephiroth? What are you doing?"

"Oh, uh… I don't really know. Meditating, I guess?"

"Okay…"

Sephiroth sighed and slid off of the small building, landing in front of Cloud. "So… Nibelheim, right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yes." He paused. "Do you… remember anything? About Nibelheim?"

Sephiroth started pacing. "No… Should I?"

"I don't know… I would think so, but… perhaps it's best that you don't…"

"How cryptic," Sephiroth said, his tone bitter for some reason.

Cloud shrugged. "Sorry… Anyways, it doesn't matter what happened there in the past. Not… not anymore. We're only going for an hour or so max… What could possibly go wrong, right?"

"Heh. Don't say that, or-"

"Yeah yeah, I know. We'll run into Rufus Shinra, then we'll be stalked, then Genesis will show up, and then we'll get attacked by a herd of wild chocobos. I get it."

"Well, um… I wasn't going to use those _exact _words, but… okay?"

Cloud couldn't help but laugh slightly. "Sorry; just ignore that. So… let's get going?"

"Oh, right. Yeah, sure; let's get this over with…"

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

It only took about an hour to get to Nibelheim, which was quite busy at that moment. Why…? Well, it didn't really matter, of course. Cloud was planning to get out of here as quickly as possible, so there was no time to really care about anything else going on. He quickly got off of Fenrir, looking around.

"There's something odd here…" Cloud muttered quietly, directing his statement at Jenova.

_**You'll have to be more specific.**_

"I don't really know _how_ to be…It's like I can tell that something or someone familiar is here…"

_**Er… didn't you grow up here…? Ever think that **_**that **_**might be it…?**_

"No, it's not like that… Where are you?"

_**Waiting for you. I'll find you soon. There's something going on in town… I'm not really too interested, so I don't know what, but you may want to check it out…**_

Cloud started to turn to Sephiroth – who was waiting patiently – when something unexpected happened.

_**Oh, **_**really**_**? Heh…**_

Almost instantly, Jenova seemed to realize that she was still talking to Cloud.

_**Cloud! Uh… sorry, wrong chat. I mean, uh… **_

"I get it," Cloud muttered, pretending to be looking into town so that Sephiroth didn't see him whispering to Jenova. "Just out of curiosity… who did you _mean _to talk to?"

_**Curiosity isn't always good. You know what they say: curiosity killed the Reno.**_

"What? Reno's dead?"

_**Nah; I've just always thought of him as a cat for some reason…**_

"…"

_**What…? Sorry; I get like this when I'm bored. Just… go back to whatever you were doing.**_

Cloud looked at Sephiroth, sighing unhappily. "Alright, so… Stay here. And if you decide to look around, make sure nobody sees you. Got it?"

Sephiroth nodded, getting off of Fenrir and sighing. "Will do."

Cloud nodded and walked into town, carrying a small package. He walked up to the door of the house and knocked, but there was no answer. So he put the package down on the doorstep, knowing that this person was probably out with everybody else.

What _was _going on, anyways? Cloud had _never _seen Nibelheim so busy. He was fairly certain that there weren't even this many people that actually _lived _in Nibelheim! What-

"Seriously, everyone. Can you _please _let me through?"

Oh, great. Cloud _knew _that voice.

_**Hah! Told you! I **_**probably **_**should have mentioned that the universe loves to prove me wrong; whenever I'm sarcastic about something happening, the universe seems to take it on as a personal challenge and it actually happens. Strange, right?**_

Cloud didn't have time to answer because, right then, the voice of Rufus Shinra said, "Wait… Cloud? What are _you _doing here?"

Cloud sighed unhappily, looking at his old-enemy-that-wasn't-truly-an-enemy-anymore, Rufus Shinra. Rufus looked different, now that he no longer had any of his bandages and wasn't using a wheelchair anymore. Of course, other than that, he looked basically the same. "Oh, uh… I was just finishing a delivery. You remember that I do that, right? What are _you _doing here…?"  
Most of the people that had been crowding Rufus had dispersed and were doing their own things now, so, unfortunately, Rufus was paying complete attention to Cloud. Where were the Turks…?

Rufus tilted his head. "Hmm… I don't really know. There has been quite a lot happening, and since everything began here, I just thought I'd look around and see if anything is amiss."

_**See? He has no reason for being here. Never underestimate the power of the universe hating me, Cloud. Never.**_

Cloud shook his head. "Well, that's great," he said to Rufus, as he couldn't respond to Jenova. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to Edge…"

Rufus narrowed his eyes. "What's the rush…? Is there something going on?" He smirked slightly. "Or do you just want to get back to Tifa?"

Cloud felt himself blushing slightly; something he almost _never _did. "N-no. To both. I just… should get back. I don't like being here very much after everything."

"Hmm… I wonder…"

"What?" Cloud asked, not really caring but knowing that Shinra had far too many tricks up his sleeve to leave alone.

"Cloud, if you're hiding something… I have Elena, Tseng, Reno, and Rude all here with me, checking out the area. If you're hiding something, they'll know."

Cloud almost wanted to silently beg Jenova to help him out here, but he would _never _do that. He could only hope that the Turks didn't find Sephiroth…

_**Don't worry, Cloud. They won't find him.**_

How…? Was she keeping them away…? Ah, it didn't matter. If Jenova said that they were safe, then chances were that they were indeed safe. But for how long…?

Cloud sighed. "Well, I've got nothing to hide. So, can I go yet?"

"No, not yet. You _are _hiding something…"

"And you _are _stalling. I'm not falling for it, Rufus. Let me go. I need to get back before it gets dark…"

"And why is that, exactly?"

Cloud couldn't exactly tell him about Jenova and her friends being powerful during night, so he simply shrugged. "I just want to get back before I get tired. Is that a crime, or something?"

"Hmm… Just come out with it, why don't you? You should know by now that I don't give up when I want something. So what are you hiding? You're not very good at making it seem as though nothing is wrong, you know. So what is it? Sephiroth again? Deepground, maybe? Or perhaps even Jenova?"

Cloud paused. "Jenova…?" How did he know about her? Oh, duh. Cloud had completely forgotten that not only had he known about the JENOVA Project, but Rufus had also been hiding what was left of Jenova's original body when the Remnants had been looking for her.

Rufus smirked. "What? You think I forgot about it? I know a lot more than you think, Cloud Strife…"

_**Did… did he just call me an 'it'?! Oh, that's it. I'm going to kick his-**_

Cloud did his best to ignore Jenova's angry ranting, knowing that she wouldn't actually show herself unless it was absolutely necessary. He looked cautiously at Rufus. "Of course. But-"

_**Hey, wait, where's she…? Cloud, I'm going to follow this Elena girl for a minute, alright? So be careful with what you say, because I'm not going to be paying attention mentally and I won't be able to hear you physically anymore. I'll be right back… don't do anything stupid, like you normally do. I'm not going to have you ruin all of this…**_

_**((Alright, no point in putting in a break, just… **_**you**_** take the story for a minute. Yes, third person. Just narrate exactly like I would, alright? Ignore this, reader-people.))**_

Cloud couldn't help but wonder how Jenova had been able to hear him before… She had obviously been nearby, but where…?

Rufus was looking at Cloud expectantly. "Yes? 'But' what? You randomly paused and stopped talking…"

"Oh, um, right. I meant that you may think something's going on, but there isn't. Alright? Everything is perfectly normal again."

"Of course you'd say that. But that's not the truth, is it? I don't enjoy being left out, Strife."

"Again, I can tell you're stalling. Just… Leave me alone. If you're having the Turks look for something, they're not going to find it."

"Doubtful. When the Turks want to find something, they generally find it. They _will _find what you're hiding."

_**((I've got it from here. Move. Hello again, readers. You get the awesome narrator again! Alright, back to the story…))**_

Cloud shook his head. "You'll nev-"

"Hello?"

Cloud looked over to see, of all people, Jenova. She was dressed normally – in dark-blue jeans and a black t-shirt – and had sunglasses on so that you couldn't see her eyes, but Cloud could still tell it was her. Rufus _must _have found it odd that she had silver hair, though… what was she thinking…?

Rufus paused, but obviously didn't find anything wrong with her. "Yes?"

Jenova shook her head. "Um… May I speak to Cloud for a moment, please? I have, er, a job for him."

Cloud nodded, instantly playing along. "Oh, uh, right. I'll be right back, Rufus…"

Rufus sighed impatiently as Cloud followed Jenova behind a building so that Rufus couldn't hear or see them. Jenova took her glasses off so that Cloud could see her glaring at him.

"Two things," she said. "One: You _ever _make me do that again – intervene in your conversation as a _human_, I mean – and I won't wait until the final battle to murder you. Two: What the hell were you thinking?! You almost told him that something was going on, just by almost saying that he wouldn't find out what was going on!"

Cloud paused, realizing that she was right. "I can't believe I didn't even realize that…" He looked over at her. "By the way… what happened to following Elena…?"

"Well, I knew you'd get into trouble without me making your every move for you as I always do, so as soon as she wasn't in danger of finding anything, I came back here. Good thing I did, too, or we'd have _another _issue to deal with… I mean, I _could _just kill him, but what's the point? People will get suspicious."

"Right…"

Jenova looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why…?"

"'Why' what?"

She shook her head. "Huh? Oh, I'm not talking to you."

"Of course… Can't you just talk mentally to whoever?"

"True." She froze. "Wait, what?! Oh… oh damn…" But she smirked. "Ah, never mind. Cloud, get back out there. You know what to tell him."

"Er… what?" he asked, noting her random personality change. She hadn't changed all too much, as she was normally telling him what to do, but something was… different. She seemed a bit stiff as she looked expectantly at Cloud.

Jenova sighed. "Just… go. Before-"

Suddenly, Cloud's phone rang.

"Before something like that happens…"

Cloud looked at his phone and saw that it was Vincent calling. Since Vincent made a point of almost _never _using a phone, this had to be something important. Plus, it obviously would annoy Jenova for Cloud to answer the phone so, of course, he answered it.

"Hello? Vincent?"

"_Cloud… You are in Nibelheim, correct?"_

Cloud was a bit worried that Vincent was getting right to the point. What was wrong…? "Yeah; why?"

"_Get out. Now."_

"Er… Why?"

"_Chaos. I was trying to get him to say something about what's going on. He got annoyed and said he was going to go make certain you weren't doing anything to ruin his plans that he wouldn't tell me about. He said that Jenova may have been watching you, but even after so long, he still doesn't completely trust her."_

Without another word, Vincent ended the call.

Jenova froze, and Cloud forgot that, due to her having all of her odd abilities, she could probably hear the conversation. She shook her head. "He… he doesn't trust me?" She grinned, and then started laughing, sounding insane. In fact, Cloud was fairly certain that she _was _insane; she just knew how to hide it. She grinned as soon as she stopped laughing. "Well, damn! If he doesn't trust me, then I don't know what I'm going to do!" Suddenly, she froze, narrowing her eyes. "But we have larger problems… You know what I just realized? You're not good at hiding things, Cloud. But I'll help you this one time…"

"Er… what?" Cloud asked. He always felt one step behind her…

Jenova smirked. "Just… give me a second."

Without another word, Jenova had literally disappeared. Cloud started to walk back to Shinra, but he didn't get very far.

"And _that's _what you get for calling me an 'it'!"

Cloud rushed out to see Shinra unconscious not too far away with Jenova looking far too content with herself.

Cloud stared at her. "What did you do?!"

"Well, he was going to come over to spy on us and see if he could figure anything out, so I had to stop him, obviously. He cannot know a thing. Not that having one pawn know more than it should would ruin everything, but it may provide some unnecessary issues."

"But… What about the Turks?"

"I could kill them…"

"No!" Cloud said. Although he didn't necessarily like the Turks, he knew that they didn't deserve to die. Not at all.

Jenova glared at him with a look of warning in her eyes. "Never speak to me like that. However, perhaps that would be for the best. There may be a use for them later on."

Cloud shook his head. "But… I… If the Turks find an unconscious Shinra, won't that make them suspicious?"

"No. He won't be out for long… In fact, he should wake up any moment now. Tell him whatever you want; just end the conversation quickly. Alright?"

Cloud nodded reluctantly. "Fine, whatever."

She turned around. "'Who's' who?"

"Eh? Oh. Not talking to me."

She shook her head. "Are you sure it's not…?" She sighed. "Perhaps you're just seeing things, then."

Cloud sighed. "If you're talking to Chaos, should you really be saying things like that to him?"

She shrugged. "I can say whatever I want. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be going…"

Before Cloud could say anything else, she had disappeared. Cloud shook his head unhappily, sighing. So now he had to deal with Chaos and Shinra, _and _still get out alive. And, if everything were to go wrong like Jenova had said, Genesis and wild chocobos would show up soon. This day was just getting better and better…

Cloud looked over at Rufus, who was finally starting to come to. Rufus shook his head, looking up at Cloud. "What… what the hell happened?!"

Cloud shrugged. "Er… I don't really know. I came back out here, and you were passed out."

"Ugh… My head feels like it's on fire… there's no way that something normal happened to me… It had to be someone using Materia, right…?"

"Uh… Right. Yeah, of course." Cloud shook his head. "Did you, by chance, see who it was?"

"No… I didn't hear anyone, either. One second I was here, trying to lis- trying to figure out what was taking you so long, and then next thing I know, I was slammed with what I can only describe as someone slamming me with some kind of mental wall. Then I woke up here. It's certainly strange…"

"Uh, yeah, definitely… I should probably g-"

"President Shinra! Sir!"

Cloud and Rufus turned around as Elena and Tseng approached. Elena paused. "Oh, and Cloud, too…"

Cloud smirked. "Nice to see you, too."

Tseng rolled his eyes. "What are _you- _you know what? There's no real time for that. Anyways… Sir, there's someone odd here. Someone in a black cloak was watching someone or something, but they noticed us and ran off."

_**So he wasn't just seeing things… **_

Rufus paused. "Cloud…? Do you know who this person is…?"

Cloud shook his head. "Technically, no."

He nodded. "But you know of their existence."

…_**You're seriously going to tell him…? He may be able to help you, but… That's an unnecessary risk… Eh, who am I kidding? Risks are what make this interesting…**_

Cloud sighed. "Rufus, just…"

_**Oh! Oh, yeah! That's three out of four!**_

Cloud shook his head, knowing that this was probably more important than Rufus. "What…?" He paused. "Wait… three was…" Cloud froze, and Shinra gave him an odd look.

_**That's right! Genny's here! Heh, I've always wanted to call him that, for no real reason…**_

Cloud sighed, and Shinra, Elena, and Tseng all stared at him. Elena shook her head. "Have you gone insane…?"

Cloud shrugged. "If I haven't, I probably will soon. But that's unimportant right now. With Genesis _and _Chaos both here… Where is he?"

Shinra paused. "Genesis…? As in, the old 1st Class…?"

Cloud shook his head. "Yes, but I'm not talking to you."

"…Okay…"

_**What's he…? Wait a minute… Oh. Oh, no. Cloud, go to him. **_**Now. **_**Deal with Shinra later. There's a lot more at stake at the moment.**_

Cloud shook his head, turning to Shinra. "I have to go."

"No, you don't." Shinra called out for Reno and Rude, who showed up almost instantaneously. Reno smirked.

"Oh, what now…?"

Cloud took a step back. "Damn it, Shinra. I'm not your enemy… There's too much going on for you to be doing this."

Rufus shook his head. "All I want is to know what's going on, Cloud."

_**Damn it… he's going to ruin everything. I'll be right back.**_

Cloud shook his head. "Gee, thanks for abandoning me…"

_**Technically, I'm still listening in. So I'm not abandoning you, unfortunately. But I won't be able to speak for a bit, because my attention is already directed three different ways at the moment…**_

Elena paused. "Who are you talking to, exactly…?"

"You… can't know."

Reno smirked. "Jenova, right?"

Everyone froze. Even Shinra and the other Turks seemed surprised at Reno's comment. Cloud felt his heart sink.

"How… How do you…?"

Reno smiled slyly. "You think I didn't stick around after you and Tifa kicked me out? What kind of a Turk would I be if I had just left when you so obviously had something important to tell Tifa? Plus, I heard her say something about Sephiroth while I was still just outside the door, so I _had _to stay."

Shinra glared at Reno. "Why didn't you tell me this until now?"

Reno shrugged. "I wanted to wait until Cloud was here, so that he could fill in the blanks. I don't know _everything _about what's going on…"

Everyone looked at Cloud expectantly, and Cloud didn't really know what to say. "Well, um… You see… It's kind of c-"

"It's incredibly complicated," Jenova finished, walking in. She was dressed in her black leather armor and didn't have her glasses on, so she obviously didn't care about hiding who she was anymore. Everyone except for Cloud stared at her.

Shinra was the first one to cautiously speak. "And you are…?"

She smirked. "You know who I am, don't you? I'm the one you call Jenova, if you don't realize it. And yes, to answer your unspoken question; I could kill you if I wanted to." She turned to Cloud. "But you know as well as I do that there's no time for that. Come on, Cloud."

Cloud shook his head. "Genesis…?"

"Yes. The bastard is getting too close to the – to telling Sephiroth the truth."

"Of course he is…"

Elena took a step forward. "Excuse me, but isn't Genesis dead?"

Jenova shrugged. "Nah. He _should _be, but then again, so should I, so should Sephiroth, and so should Cloud. You and Tseng would be dead, had it not been for the vampire… I mean Vincent. So you shouldn't be speaking when it comes to whether or not people can survive near-death experiences."

Elena nodded, taking a step back. Jenova sighed, shaking her head. "I'd love to stay here and answer questions – actually, I wouldn't – but Cloud and I need to get going. So unless you all want to die, I'd suggest that you stay out of our way."

Shinra paused. "One last thing… Why are you working with Cloud?"

She shrugged. "There's 'working with', and then there's 'commanding'. The latter is the true one. If he doesn't do what I say, he's dead as well. But I'm going to _try _to keep from killing him for at least a few more months. Then, it won't matter whether he lives or dies…"

"Er, alright…"

Jenova nodded and walked off, leaving Cloud no choice but to follow her. But why was Genesis going to tell Sephiroth the truth? Did he not fear Jenova? Or was there something else that he knew that Cloud didn't?

Cloud sighed as he looked ahead at the looming structure of Shinra Manor. But no… Jenova led him past it… and towards the old Mako Reactor?

Why would Sephiroth and Genesis be at the Mako Reactor…? And, more importantly, how did Sephiroth even know where it was? Did someone lead him there…? Cloud dreaded the answer…

* * *

**A/N: Again, I'm sorry that the chapter was a bit boring, but I haven't had very many ideas lately. However, the next chapter will hopefully be better, because I've been thinking about it since I first started the story. Please, if anyone has any ideas about what I should do for the next few chapters, feel free to review and tell me. I'll try to get the next chapter up as quickly as possible, so until then, thanks to all of my readers/reviewers.**


	22. Let It Burn

**(Sorry about the long author's note, beforehand. If you want to skim it, the only actual important-y part of it is in the first few sentences.) **

**A/N: Disclaimer – I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or the band Red. I also don't own the band 10 Years, who I mention. –**

**First: Sorry for the lag in updating this chapter; I wrote this and the next one as one (since they're both in the same POV), but it got way too long for a single chapter, so I split it. Also, if anyone can review before I finish the next chapter, can I get an opinion? I'm thinking of letting Genesis know about Sephy. I don't know if it's too soon, or if I'm dragging the story out too much and I should just let him know now so I don't have around a hundred chapters. Cloud will know soon enough, but I'm focusing on Genny at the moment. So… should I let him know or not…? Please review and let me know your opinion, if at this point this is the most recent chapter. One last thing about the story itself… just a forewarning, I get a **_**bit **_**violent, for… *scrolls down* for about 4 ½ paragraphs. Nothing **_**too **_**bad – no blood or anything, and it's mostly just thoughts – but I'm just saying that in case there are readers who don't like any violence. Of course, it **_**is **_**Final Fantasy, and this fic **_**is **_**rated T, so… I'll cause my characters pain if I want to XD. And if someone thinks that Jenova has too much control… then I got my point across, so then that part of the story did exactly what it was meant to.**

**Anyways… Thanks again to the readers and reviewers! A few review-related comments: Yes, I meant you XD (I'm avoiding putting any usernames in, in case someone doesn't want me to). And to another reviewer, I did put a one-lined review in this chapter, as it was too easy :] And if the confused person who anonymously reviewed got this far, I can't respond when it's anonymous, so… Yes, they did, but Jenova made them forget because she wanted to control what was going on, but Genesis had other plans. Hope that clears it up a bit. If not, I'll be happy to explain more. Okay, here you go...  
**

* * *

_**Hmm… Alright, well, there's not really much to say, so let's**__**-**_

_Wait, wait!_

_**Oh, **_**hey. **_**I normally don't see you while writing the chapters...  
**_

_Oh, uh, yeah, sorry. Anyways, I've been meaning to ask, and knowing what happens in this chapter just makes me want to know even more… What _did _happen back at Nibelheim? With Sephiroth? What _actually _drove him insane…? I mean, I know the basics, but I tried to not pay attention. Now, though...  
_

_**Ooh, you want to know…? Huh, I wonder if- Ah, he probably knows. Where did he go, anyways…? Oh, never mind. Okay, here, I'll tell you as I write the chapter...**_

* * *

_**Let It Burn**_

Sephiroth watched Cloud as he talked to Jenova. He didn't really care what they were talking about, of course, but it was amusing to watch Cloud try to hide the fact that he was talking to someone from Sephiroth.

Sephiroth noted that there was a familiar energy nearby. Wait… that couldn't be… Shinra?! What was _he _doing here?! Cloud had mentioned something about him showing up, but Sephiroth had thought that he was just being sarcastic…

_Rufus Shinra is here… _He thought to Jenova as Cloud started to turn towards him.

_**Oh, **_**really**_**? Heh…**_

Suddenly, Cloud froze, turning towards the town again. Sephiroth knew instantly what had happened: Jenova had accidentally talked to both of them, instead of just Sephiroth. She had done it with him and Chaos multiple times, so it wasn't too hard to figure out.

Cloud looked incredibly confused at one point, and Sephiroth could only watch with amusement as he wondered what Jenova might be telling him…

Cloud finally turned around and looked at Sephiroth, sighing unhappily. "Alright, so… Stay here. And if you decide to look around, make sure nobody sees you. Got it?"

Sephiroth nodded, getting off of Fenrir and sighing. "Will do." Yeah, sure, he would stay there… Right…

Cloud nodded and walked away, carrying some sort of small package with him. Sephiroth looked around, trying to figure out what to do next. He didn't want to be here at all, but if he had to stay here for now, he knew he should at least find something to do…

Sephiroth walked around, looking at the different buildings for what seemed like forever, even though only a minute or so had passed. Shinra had certainly fixed this place well enough… Of course, it _had _been more than ten years, so…

_**Hey, you may want to be careful… Rufus has his Turks scouting the area… And that Elena girl is getting pretty close to you…**_

_Got it._

Sephiroth sighed, walking off. He didn't feel any of the Turks nearby, but that didn't mean that they weren't close enough for him to be cautious.

Sephiroth looked into the town from behind a building. Cloud was talking to Shinra, and looking as though he was in trouble. Only a moment ago, Sephiroth had been _certain _that he had seen Jenova sitting on the building right behind Cloud, listening to the conversation, but… where had she gone…?

Sephiroth turned and walked away, looking around at the landscape. He couldn't help but feel depressed by this place.

What had happened here, again? Oh, right… Sephiroth had burnt down the town and murdered nearly everyone… How could he forget, even if only for a second…? That was the day Jenova had finally broken him, the day he had lost control of himself… and the day that he had sealed his fate. How odd… he had never forgotten about that day before…

"Hey, what's wrong?" said a voice, startling Sephiroth. He turned around to see Jenova dressed… normally?! Yes, she was dressed as a normal human. But why…?

She shrugged. "I know, I know. I hate it. But I need to help Cloud, as much as I loathe even saying that. However, if I don't get in there, Shinra is going to expose all of us… Cloud is awful under pressure…"

Sephiroth sighed, glad that he could dodge her earlier question. "Very true. Are you sure you should be doing that, though…?"

"Of course. I already asked Chaos, and he knows that we need to keep the secret from as many people as possible. Or, if nothing else, have the upper hand. We can't let Shinra know by him _trying _to figure it out… I need to be able to surprise them, at least slightly."

"Right…"

She nodded. "Seriously, though… What's wrong?"

"Why do you care?" he asked, turning away from her. He wasn't able to see her expression, but he doubted that that mattered.

"I don't. I just want to make sure that you're not having regrets, because it would suck to have to kill you this close to what's coming…"

Sephiroth smirked. "…No, I'm not having regrets. I don't have the time to. I know what I'm doing, and I'm not going to falter."

"…You know I'm on your side, right?"

Sephiroth turned around to face her, a bit startled by her random comment. However, she was already walking back into town. She looked back at him. "Ah, never mind. Just be ready, in case something goes wrong. And we both know that something will indeed go wrong. How can it not, when Cloud has said multiple times that 'nothing will go wrong'? Ah, you've got to love Murphy's Law…"

"Er…"

"Never mind; you wouldn't know that. Just be ready…"

"Of course…"

Jenova paused. "Sheesh, are you depressed or something? You're normally not so boring."

Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head. "No… no, I'm fine," he lied. Jenova obviously called his bluff, just by the way she had to turn away to hide the odd look in her eyes. But she didn't say anything about it and simply walked off, obviously not caring.

Sephiroth sighed as he saw Jenova pull Cloud out of his conversation with Rufus, all but dragging him into a nearby alley. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and looked around again. There had to be _something _interesting to do here… _something_ to keep his mind off of the past…

Then, though, Sephiroth saw something he didn't expect. Nearby was… well, it moved behind a building far too fast for Sephiroth to really see it, but it seemed to be some sort of… demon? Hadn't Jenova said Chaos was a demon…? But it couldn't be… right?

Sephiroth ran behind the building, but there was nothing there. There was someone walking away, but they seemed human… Before the man disappeared, though, he glanced back at Sephiroth with an odd look in his eyes. Yeah; probably Chaos. Sephiroth had never known that Chaos could hide his appearance as well… It must have been something he had picked up from Jenova…

_Hey… what does Chaos look like…? And can he use illusion to look like someone else, like we can? _Sephiroth asked Jenova. He would be able to know whether or not it was Chaos if Jenova described him. He had only seen that first being for a second, but he would still be able to recognize the description…

_**Why…? **_she replied, her voice sounding a bit different than it normally did. She must have been talking out loud on her side. Hopefully Cloud didn't hear her…

_Because I think he's here. I could have sworn that something definitely _not _human walked behind a building, but it was a human walking away…_

_**Wait, what?! Oh… oh damn…**_

Sephiroth sighed unhappily, shaking his head. She didn't say anything more, so she was obviously preoccupied.

Sephiroth realized that he had accidentally started subconsciously walking along the path that led to Shinra Manor and the old Mako reactor. He paused, turning around. There was nobody nearby at that moment, so why did he still feel as though he was being watched…? Chaos, maybe? Or perhaps Genesis was here? That would be awful, but it was definitely possible. Or… was there someone else…?

Sephiroth didn't want to go to the Manor, but where else would he go? If he stayed here, someone would surely see him…

How long had it been, again? Since that day…? Oh yes. Ten years, at least. Sephiroth got the feeling that he should never say that directly to Jenova, or she would probably say one of those things that he knew he would never understand. What world had she been to, again…? She had never told him, and she had never told him how she had gotten there. Something having to do with the Lifestream, probably. But why _that _world? There was no way that that world had anything to do with _this _one, right? They couldn't know anything about what was going on…

It wasn't long before Sephiroth realized he had drifted off into thought. How long had he been standing there…?

Sephiroth shook his head, shaking himself out of the daze he had been in. He looked up at Shinra Manor, feeling as though he should go there. He started to walk forward, but didn't get very far before the feeling of being watched started to annoy him. He looked up at the Manor… And saw something unexpected. There was a person in a black cloak that was sitting there, just watching him. As soon as they saw that Sephiroth had seen them, they darted off up towards the reactor, obviously not wanting to be seen.

_Who's that…?_

'_**Who's' who? **_Jenova replied, her voice again sounding as though she was talking out loud.

_There was a person in a black cloak up on the Manor…_

_**Are you sure it's not…?**_

_Chaos? Yes, I'm fairly certain._

_**Perhaps you're just seeing things, then. **_

…_I don't know… Maybe… Oh, never mind…_

_**Alright… **_she said, her voice again sounding as though she was only talking in her mind.

After a few moments, Sephiroth shook his head and walked into the Manor. The gates were open and the front doors were unlocked, so it wasn't exactly hard to get in.

Sephiroth looked around the old Manor. He couldn't remember why he hadn't destroyed it ten years ago… There must have been a reason, but he couldn't remember what. Why couldn't he remember…? Maybe he was just stressed…

The Manor had been partially destroyed about two years ago when there was a battle between… who had it been again…? Oh, right. Vincent and some woman from Deepground named Rosso. There had also been a giant mechanical spider, or something like that. Well, whatever had happened, Rufus Shinra had decided to rebuild the parts of the Manor that had been destroyed for whatever reason. Sephiroth didn't know _why _he had done that, but Rufus always had his reasons, as Sephiroth had learned from watching him for so many years.

Sephiroth looked around again, walking forward. There were so many rooms in the Manor, but Sephiroth knew where he was going. There was only one part of the Manor that actually mattered…

Sephiroth turned around, as he could have sworn that someone else was there. But he didn't feel anyone… Perhaps it was Marlene? But no, there was no way she could have gotten here… Was there another empath he didn't know about? Or was there someone powerful enough to hide themselves from him…? But only Chaos and Jenova were so powerful… right? Could Chaos's ally truly be so powerful? Or _was _there someone else?

Sephiroth paused, thinking back to when he had seen the person up on the roof of the Manor. It was the first time he realized that, sure enough, he hadn't felt their aura. He had figured that maybe they were too far away, but as long as he could _see _them, it didn't really matter _how _far away they were.

Sephiroth shook his head, walking up the stairs and going into the room that had the secret door down to the basement. Perhaps he could find the answer down in the library… He wasn't certain that that was the smartest idea, but that didn't really matter.

Sephiroth sighed unhappily. Why did he want to go down there…? He knew that he shouldn't…

Then, though, Sephiroth heard arguing coming from downstairs. He was too far away to tell who it was, but he knew that he probably didn't want these people to see him. So he pushed open the hidden door and walked down the stairs.

It didn't take very long to get from the bottom of the stairs to the door that led into the lab/library. Sephiroth opened the door, walking in and almost instantly wishing he hadn't. This place held so many terrible memories…

Sephiroth shook his head, shaking himself out of the past. After all, it was _the past_; there was no going back to change it. No matter how much he wanted to, Sephiroth could never change what had happened… He had chosen his own path.

Even if he knew it hadn't entirely been his fault, he also knew that he couldn't blame others for what had happened; not anymore. He could have chosen to have given up long ago, and yet he had continued forward. He felt that his destiny was to help Jenova… so why did he also feel as though trying to take over the universe wasn't what he was meant to do? He didn't have a choice in the matter… he never had… But he knew that it didn't matter whether or not he felt as though taking over the universe – or whatever Jenova and Chaos were truly trying to do – was the right thing. His fate had been sealed ten years ago, and that was all that mattered now.

Sephiroth sighed, looking around the room. Everything looked almost the exact same. Very little seemed to have changed since the last time he had been here… in physical appearance, of course. Sephiroth knew that a lot had indeed changed…

Sephiroth shook his head. He remembered when he had come down here that one day… That was the day that he had learned so much about himself and… well, everything. It had taken him multiple days to read all of the journals, and then to piece everything together, but he had indeed done it. As soon as he had figured everything out, Jenova had shown herself for the first time. She had been in her human-ish form, just like she always was now. And then… what _had _happened after that…? And why couldn't Sephiroth remember?! Sure, his memories may have been a bit messed up at times, but they weren't ever gone altogether… Of course, he had never really tried too hard to remember that part of the past, but… Had Jenova erased those memories for some reason…? If so, he doubted that she'd tell him why…

Sephiroth sighed. Why was he even here…? He didn't have any reason to be down here… He should probably just go wait for Cloud and make certain that nothing more went wrong.

_**Hey, you were right…**_

Sephiroth jumped at hearing Jenova's voice. "What…?" he asked. He rarely spoke out loud to her, but this was an exception.

_**The Turks saw a person in a black cloak somewhere around here, watching… probably you.**_

…_Just now?_

_**Well, probably not **_**just **_**now, but within the last minute or so. **_

…_That's impossible. The person I saw took off towards the reactor, and I didn't ever feel their energy come back this way. Very few people can hide their energy from me, and I never felt them come back this way. And the Turks weren't over there, either… Besides, I'm inside the Manor at the moment, so they weren't watching me._

After a moment, Jenova responded. _**Maybe there's two cloaked people, then, **_she said sarcastically. _**Plus Chaos. Unless Chaos found a new ally, or someone is brave – or stupid – enough to follow you, then I'm assuming you just weren't paying attention.**_

_Yeah, maybe…_

After a moment's pause, Jenova talked again, her voice very cautious. _**Wait… why are you in the Manor…?**_

Sephiroth couldn't help but smirk slightly. _Why do you care…?_

_**Oh, uh… I don't… just… don't try to figure too many things out, as that place is capable of reminding people of the past…**_

_Oh, so you _did _take my memories…?_

She didn't respond for a few moments. _**Well, I- Hey! How about we change the subject? Because Genesis is here, and I have a feeling that that is more important…**_

Sephiroth shook his head. "You'll always be the same… Do you _always _have to be in control?!"

_**Yes. And I always will be. Of you, at least…**_

He smirked. "Someday… Someday, I'll take that control from you."

_**Mmmm… Do you **_**want **_**a repeat of the first time we met down where you are now?**_

Sephiroth sighed. He didn't truly remember what _had _happened. He had almost been certain that he had, and in fact, he _did _remember parts of the first time they had met, and the first time he had resisted her. If nothing else, he knew enough to know that her threat truly _was _a threat.

"No…"

_**How long will you play this game? How long will you walk away…? You can't hide from what's happening forever, you know. **_

Sephiroth smirked. "I thought you wanted me to do all of those things? And I think you've quoted something similar to that before…"

_**I… Never mind. It… doesn't matter.**_

"At least tell me… Why did you take most of my memories of what happened the first time we were here?"

_**I… didn't?**_

"Heh. I never thought that _you'd _deceive me… And where are you now? Are you just going to let me face my past by myself…?"

_**I think you've been around me too long… Just trust me… I took those memories from you for a good reason… **_

Sephiroth sighed, but then looked around. "At least tell me… I know I met you about a day or two before everything happened. And I'm fairly certain that I was at least sane enough to not burn down the town before I met you. To murder Hojo or President Shinra, maybe, but not to burn down a town and try to destroy the Planet. So what did you do to me…? You didn't _force _my insanity on me… did you?"

…_**I'll tell you later. For now, you need to get away from Genesis. He all but knows that you didn't forget the past – most of it – and we can't let him confirm his thoughts and then tell Cloud. Or anyone else. Having Marlene and Yuffie know is already bad enough. If Genesis knows, then things will get far more complicated. And… I think he knows where you are… Damn it… He's going to the Manor. I'm sending Cloud after him. You need to get out, now. I don't want you facing him. Understand?**_

She spoke as quickly as possible; obviously so that Sephiroth wouldn't interrupt her. But he couldn't help but laugh slightly. "You'll never change, will you…? Just… leave me alone… I'll do whatever I want. And that includes going to face Genesis."

_**Ugh, you're going to ruin everything…**_

She didn't say anything for a moment, and Sephiroth actually thought that she may have decided to leave him alone. But he should have known that she wasn't one to give up…

Only a few moments later, Jenova walked into the room, looking annoyed. "There's a damn spell over this place… I can't teleport into the actual room…" She paused. "Oh, wait… I think I'm the one who did that…" She shook her head. "Anyways… I'm not letting you face Genesis. That will ruin _everything_, if he knows."

Sephiroth shrugged. "I couldn't care less. I'm done playing this game."

"Oh, no you're not. As long as I'm still playing, _you're _still playing," she said, still carrying on the metaphor.

Sephiroth smirked. "And if I don't? If I stop playing? What will you do then, hmm? Kill me, so that I don't ruin things for you? I'm fine with that."

"I was being sarcastic back in the town. Why would I kill you…? That'd be pointless."

"What, then? You can't hurt me in any way; not anymore. Anything you can do to me, I can take."

She smiled cruelly, the sadistic, evil look in her eyes making Sephiroth doubt his statement. She shook her head. "Oh, really? You know what I can do to you, and trust me when I say that you haven't seen anything _close _to how bad I can get." She thought for a moment. "Do you remember what one of the _first _things I ever said to you was?"

"No! Of _course _I don't! Because I have _no idea _what happened during those last days down here! Only vague feelings! I mean… I do remember a few sentences, and the vague feelings around them… I remembered a lot more a few days ago… Or, at least, I _think _I did…"

She sighed. "You said earlier that I had quoted something similar to what I had said to you. And I had. In fact, I had pulled another few lines as one of the very first things I said to you. I said, 'how long can you stand the pain'. You really want to go back to a hell where I'd be able to say that and have it fit in context? You resisted me almost as soon as you met me. Partially insane or not, you still knew better than to murder innocent people and take over the Planet, which was what I told you you were going to do from then on. But, as you so obviously know by now, I do _not _like it when people resist my control."

She paused for a moment, and then continued, subconsciously running her left hand along one of her still-sheathed swords. "If you _really _want to remember that part of your past, then perhaps I shall remind you at least slightly of what happened…"

Why did Sephiroth already know that this wasn't going to end out well for him…? Jenova had never used her swords on him, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to…

"Oh, damn it, Cloud…" Jenova muttered. She smirked at Sephiroth. "Sorry, but I've got to go, so let's make this quick. Don't you worry; we'll take care of Genesis."

He narrowed his eyes. He couldn't be afraid of Jenova forever. He _wouldn't _play this game anymore… he _wouldn't _walk away. "_No. _I'll take care of Gene-"

"Sorry, but I can't allow that to happen. That's why I must do this."

As she was obviously in a hurry, she didn't waste another second. She moved her hand quickly, and sent Sephiroth flying backwards. He slammed into the wall, a spike of pain shooting throughout his entire body. He fell to his knees, feeling like something similar had happened the first time they had met…

Sephiroth could admit to himself that he was a bit worried. Jenova almost never actually physically hurt him, but it was never good when she did. She only ever became her violent, sadistic self with Sephiroth when she was mad at him, mad for some other reason and needed something else to think about, or when she was just simply bored. Normally, because of those circumstances, Jenova tended to take her time when playing around with – and 'playing around with' was putting it very, _very_ lightly – Sephiroth but, luckily, she didn't seem to want to waste any time getting back to Cloud. However, Sephiroth was still worried…

Jenova smiled slightly, the sadistic look once again present in her eyes. That was never good… Then, though, Jenova shook her head, shaking herself out of her daze. She sighed unhappily, obviously not pleased with the fact that her main goal at that moment should be to get back to Cloud and find Genesis as quickly as possible.

Jenova moved her hand again, instantly shattering all of the mental defenses Sephiroth had put up to keep her from taking him over; oddly enough, that simple move hurt far worse than being thrown into a solid wall and slammed onto the ground. She'd never done that to him before…

Jenova shrugged, her expression a mask. She moved her hand one last time, and Sephiroth's entire world turned black as his consciousness was cruelly ripped from his grasp.


	23. Fight Inside

**(A/N: -Disclaimer- - I do not own Final Fantasy, Linkin Park ('What I've Done'), Red ('Fight Inside'), Avenged Sevenfold ('Almost Easy'), Pop Evil ('Monster You Made'), Daughtry ('Break The Spell'), Three Days Grace ('Never Too Late') or Otherwise ('Full Circle') [Lots of alludes in this chapter… Oh, and if you get the one part that Jenova mentions… you have to admit: minus the 'trying not to love you' line, the song **_**does **_**work well for them… at least, in this fanfic it does…]. I also don't own any of the 'The Thing'–'s, or 'Who Goes There?' (Just watched the 2011 version of 'The Thing', and so I was in that mood. I may edit it out later, but for now, I had to make a joke about it, and how Jenova was so obviously based off of the Thing… XD), as well as whoever did Nyan cat ^_^ - Ugh, so sorry for the delay. Anyways, I know the chapter is… long, basically. I started writing, and I just couldn't stop. But it wouldn't make sense as two separate chapters, so it's just one**_** big **_**one. Ohhhh, and sorry that I kind of downplayed Cloud's role in this chapter; when there's more than two people in a conversation, but it's mainly between only two of them, the extra people tend to become vegetables. So yes; Cloud becomes a potato for the chapter. Hehe… sorry, inside joke there. Oh great, I'm going on and on again in the author's note… Anyways, thanks to all the readers and reviewers! Alrighty, let's start now. I'll try to cut down the notes in later chapters…)**

* * *

_Wow… really? That's seriously what happened?_

_**Uh-huh.**_

_You know, that actually kind of makes sense? Although, I have to admit… I just thought that, in the end, he either heard the whole 24-hour Nyan Cat or found out what Yaoi was._

_**Nah. He's never been to that world… Plus, those were darker times, so, although either of those things **_**would **_**drive someone insane, you now know what **_**really **_**happened.**_

_Oh, right… You know, you can really be-_

_**Yeah, yeah, I know. But hey, all that matters is that it worked in the end, right?  
**_

_Hmm… Are you ever going to tell the readers? By the way… you know they can see this, right…?_

_**Yes, I know. And perhaps, but I'm never going to tell them **_**exactly **_**what happened… Do remember that this is rated T…**_

_Oh, of course...  
_

_**Right. Since I can only show people this story through that one site, I have to give it a rating and everything, but you know that. Anyways, I don't necessarily want to change the rating now for just one scene.**_

_You'd have to change it just for violence…?_

_**Probably.**_

_Wow. So more happened than what you told me…?_

_**Yeah; I only told you the basics… But that's over now, so it doesn't matter anymore. Nobody else needs to know the past… especially the nice readers… They can probably decipher what happened just from this and the end of the last chapter. Right, people? And if not, then they probably don't want to know. Plus, that might give away the ending of what happened. Sure, this is real for **_**us**_**, and **_**we **_**know that it happened, but to them it's nothing more than a story based off of a game… So I should probably keep the ending a secret. Or as secret as I can.**_

'_As you can'? Is someone starting to figure something out…?_

_**Maybe, maybe not. I'm not saying either way. Anyways, I should probably get back to this, so... Onward, readers.  
**_

* * *

_**Fight Inside**_

"_Huh… it really _is _you…"_

_Sephiroth shook his head, opening his eyes. He knew that voice… Wait… standing nearby couldn't be… Zack? Zack Fair? What was _he _doing here…? And why could Sephiroth look at him…? This was obviously some sort of dream, but normally in dreams like this, the living couldn't look at the dead. Of course, things _had _been changing…_

_Zack shook his head. "Do you know me…? No, I guess you probably don't…"_

_Even with being dead, Angeal's puppy still didn't know what was going on with anything around him? Not much different than when he had been alive, it seemed…_

_Sephiroth sighed. "No, I don't. Sorry…" He didn't want to do this anymore, but… perhaps it _was _best…_

_Zack looked stunned. "Whoa, you're apologizing for something?! So you really _don't _remember…"_

"…_No, I… I don't."_

"_Hmmm… _why, _though?"_

Because Jenova's a- _He stopped himself from thinking that, just in case she was listening. He shook his head. "How would I know?"_

"_Oh, yeah. That's true, huh…? You don't remember _anything_ about your past…?" He paused, looking as though he wanted to ask something but wasn't sure how to. So Sephiroth decided to find out what it was. He wouldn't risk finding out what Zack was thinking, as Sephiroth wasn't sure what Zack could and couldn't feel in the Lifestream, so he just did the next best thing._

"_Like…?"_

_Zack sighed, looking depressed. "Like… your friends? And… what happened to them?"_

_Oh. Sephiroth had forgotten how much Zack had known. "Er, no, sorry… Why?"_

"_Oh, uh, no reason…"_

"_Right…."_

_Zack shook his head. "Wait… why are you unconscious in the middle of the day…?"_

_Sephiroth froze, remembering how Jenova had knocked him out to keep him from going to Genesis. How could he explain _that _to Zack…? "Oh, well, you see, um… I was knocked out by… something or someone… I don't really know what or who, though…"_

_Zack thought for a moment. "It really _is _the middle of the day? I'm getting better at telling time from the Lifestream… Anyways, I wonder… could _she _have knocked you out…?"_

_He… knew about Jenova? He must have talked to Cloud at one point… "I'm sorry, but… who…?"_

_Zack froze, and then covered his face with the palm of his hand. "_Why _did I _say _that?!" He put his hand back by his side, looking cautiously at Sephiroth. "Umm… Just… ignore that statement?"_

_Sephiroth could barely keep from laughing. But he somehow nodded somberly. "Oh, right… I suppose you're like Cloud, then? You don't want me to remember my past?"_

_Zack looked like a cornered puppy. "Oh, uh, I… It's not that I don't want you to remember… Just… certain parts are best left unsaid? It's just that I… Well, I… I…"_

_Sephiroth laughed, causing Zack to look confused. Sephiroth shook his head, smirking. "Ah, don't worry about it. You don't need to explain yourself to me. You must have your reasons."_

_Zack shook his head, still confused. "Did you hit your head when you came back?! You're so…_ different_ now."_

_Sephiroth shrugged. "I don't believe so. Perhaps not knowing what I've done has simply changed me from what I used to be. So just go ahead and put to rest what you thought of me. I've already erased myself, and let go of what I've done…" _

More or less… _he thought to himself, barely able to hide his smirk. _I think Jenova really _is _starting to affect me…

"_Let's hope so…" Once again, Sephiroth was surprised by how oblivious everyone could be. Sephiroth hadn't even mentioned anything about Zack's 'coming back' comment; someone who didn't remember anything would ask what he had meant. _

_Zack sighed. "Anyways, while you're here… you're positive that you don't know who knocked you out? Cloud has me trying to figure more out about… what's going on… and if someone knows about you and wants to take you out…"_

_Sephiroth shrugged. "No, I don't know who it was."_

"_Did you _feel _anything?"_

_How could he answer that…? Of course, he would have to lie… "No, I didn't." _

No, Jenova _didn't _try to torture me before mostly coming back to her senses. Really, _he thought sarcastically._

_Zack sighed unhappily. "Ugh, this is impossible… Whoever we're facing is way too smart…"_

_Sephiroth smirked slightly. "It would seem so. Do you even know _who _you're facing?"_

"_Sort of… We know _mostly _who we're facing… there's just one person we can't figure out, yet. We know he exists, but we don't know who it is… I seriously hope it's not Hojo… That'd _seriously _suck…"_

"_Hojo…?" There was no way Chaos would bring _him_ back… right?_

_Zack shook his head. "Oh, I suppose you don't know who that is… never mind; it doesn't matter. You should probably get back to the world of the living… Just try to wake up. It shouldn't be too hard for _you_…"_

_Sephiroth shrugged. "Will do." He looked at Zack, smiling slightly. "Good luck, Zack." _

_Zack nodded. "Thanks. You, too," he said, not even realizing that he had never told Sephiroth his name. It was just like Angeal had said; Zack had _zero _attention span. Maybe that was good in this case, and maybe it wasn't._

_Sephiroth nodded, and willed himself awake._

Sephiroth was actually surprised that he almost instantly awoke. He had thought that, surely, Jenova would have put some sort of spell over him to keep him asleep. At least until Genesis was gone. But no. And not only that; for once, he didn't feel as though Jenova was watching him. She obviously had no idea that he was awake, and thought that it was safe for her to leave him alone.

Then, though, Sephiroth realized something was wrong. He was still on the ground, but the texture was different. He was laying on cold, hard steel. The air no longer smelled musty; however, it _did _still seem to be tainted with the scent of mako. And that could only mean one thing...

Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes, looking around. He was lying on the steel floors of the Mt. Nibel reactor. The room was lit by a few dim lights and the dull remains of the once-luminous mako that had been in the now opened pods. The door to the chamber that had once held Jenova was open… had it been before…? Probably…

Sephiroth sighed, cautiously standing up. There was no way Jenova would have brought him here… He would have easily been found by Genesis. But… if Jenova hadn't brought him here, then who had…? Who could have found him…?

Sephiroth froze, remembering only now that he hadn't closed the secret door behind him in his rush to get away from whoever was in the manor. How could he have been so stupid?! That was obviously how whoever had found him. But still… who had brought him here? And why…?

Sephiroth paced around, trying to figure everything out. The air was still and there was absolutely no sound, so Sephiroth would be able to tell if anyone came in… or if anyone tried to leave.

Then, Sephiroth heard footsteps echoing around the reactor. Someone was coming in.

Not knowing what else to do, Sephiroth darted into what had been Jenova's chamber, quietly pressing himself against the wall next to the door inside the chamber so that he could see who it was.

Wait… was that… Genesis?! What was _he _doing here?! Jenova had said that he was in Nibelheim, but how had he happened to come _here_…?

Sephiroth could tell that Genesis was here by chance, so he obviously hadn't been the one to take Sephiroth here. But then… who had…? Had someone known that Genesis would come here…? But why would they want Genesis to find Sephiroth? Surely it wasn't Jenova, then. Perhaps Chaos had a reason? Would that make any sense?

Genesis paused. Had he heard Sephiroth…? Or perhaps he knew where Sephiroth was, without even hearing him. But he wasn't an empath, so how could that be…?

Genesis smiled slightly. "Ah… such memories, here. So much happened… Right, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth froze, worried. However, he didn't say anything. Genesis simply laughed, although his laugh wasn't cruel. "Ah, don't be so surprised. I may not be an empath like I've learned you are, but I've picked up a few things while travelling the world and pretending to be dead… I can simply tell that you're here, if that makes any sense."

Sephiroth knew that Genesis wasn't lying, and that he wouldn't give up. Perhaps Sephiroth could play it off as though he was just looking around?

Then, though, Sephiroth realized something for the first time since he had woken up here: his illusion had worn off. He looked like himself again, and he was wearing his regular outfit. Masamune wasn't anywhere to be found, so it was probably still waiting to be summoned. But that didn't matter.

No matter how hard Sephiroth tried, he couldn't get the illusion to work. Something seemed to be jamming his power at that moment. Or, at least, his power that involved the Lifestream. There must have been some sort of shield over this place, just like what Jenova had mentioned back at the Manor.

Sephiroth sighed, defeated. He didn't show himself, but he knew that he couldn't hide from Genesis. "What do you want, Genesis…?"

Genesis smiled slightly. "To know the truth. You didn't forget a thing, did you?"

"Oh? Why would you think that, exactly?"

"Because I know _you. _It wasn't all too hard to figure out, just by the way you were acting around me. Plus, if you weren't acting, you wouldn't have let go of your feelings so easily. And another thing, just now… I doubt you were here in the reactor for much longer that I have been. You wouldn't have been able to hide from me so easily if you hadn't already known your way around this place. Plus, even simply getting up here – by ground – is nearly impossible unless you know your way."

Well, that would definitely be hard to disprove. But he couldn't let Genesis know… He didn't even want to imagine how Jenova would react…

_What has she done to you…? Afraid, and stuck in your ways… will that be the way it stays? _

Sephiroth looked around for the source of the voice, as it obviously wasn't Genesis speaking. But there was nobody there…

_I still believe that, inside of you, there's someone not unspoken… someone not so broken… You _need _to tell Genesis. I don't want you to be alone, like I am…_

Sephiroth _knew _that voice. But yet he couldn't place it… the recognition was like a distant memory… had Jenova taken that from him as well? No… no, it was more like simply hearing someone that he hadn't heard in so long… but who…? Also, a 'distant memory' was the perfect way to describe the voice, as it sounded so faint. Sephiroth probably would have been able to recognize the voice, had it been louder and clearer. But _why _was it so faint…? Was this person just simply not used to talking mentally, or… was he in the Lifestream…? But who could be in the Lifestream that would talk to Sephiroth…?

"Hello?" Genesis asked, walking up the staircase. "Are you alright…?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine. I think…"

"What? Did Jenova tell you off? I doubt she wants you talking to me…"

Sephiroth sighed, walking out into the open. Genesis stopped a few feet in front of him, looking a bit triumphant. Sephiroth shrugged. "Nah. She doesn't know I'm awake at the moment."

Genesis paused. "What do you mean…?" Then, he seemed to get what Sephiroth was hinting at. "Wait… what did she do to you…?"

Sephiroth sighed, looking away. "It's… not important."

"Isn't it?" He paused. "Why are you on her side, anyways? With what she so obviously does to you, I'm quite surprised you haven't ever turned on her."

"Ah, I've actually become quite used to everything she does to me. And anyways… I've wanted to fight back multiple times, but trust me when I say that it's _not _a good idea. And what if I did? I doubt that I could defeat her by myself…"

Genesis sighed. "I could help you, if you'd just _let_ me…"

Sephiroth glared, walking past him and starting down the stairs. "I don't need any help… _especially _from you… You're the reason this happened in the first place. If you hadn't freaked out and tried to recreate Loveless, then none of this would have happened…"

Genesis turned towards him. "This would have happened even if I _hadn't _left. I'm assuming Jenova's been planning all of this for quite a while… She would have found you eventually…"

Sephiroth paused, turning around to face his old friend. "Perhaps. But much has happened that wouldn't have." _Could I have prevented it…? _he thought. _No… it happened as it should have…_

Genesis nodded. "Yes, that's true… But then, we would have been doomed."

Sephiroth looked at him, confused. "And we aren't doomed now?"

Genesis's face was a mask, but Sephiroth could recognize the sly twinkle in his eyes. Which meant he was planning something…

"Perhaps this _world _is, but… _we _aren't. Even if this world is to fall, there is a chance that some of us will still be alive and free. And we'll be able to fight back."

Sephiroth shook his head. "Not without Minerva. If nothing else, we'd need her help to even _think _about fighting back. And she won't be able to escape… And do remember that we'd need to defeat both Jenova _and _Chaos – I'd assume you know about Chaos by now. As long as the two of them stand together, we don't have a chance."

Genesis shrugged, smiling slightly at the mention of Minerva's name. What was he hiding…? _Everyone's hiding something… Nobody can be trusted…_ "Yes, that's true. But you can fight off Jenova, and the rest of us can take down Chaos."

"That wouldn't work, even if I _was _on your side. Which I'm not." _No… no, I can't be. What's happening to me…?_

Genesis narrowed his eyes. "I don't believe that. You've been saying 'we' this whole time. You _know _we could win. And you at least _somewhat _want to help… right?"

Sephiroth sighed. "Yet everything seems… as though that may be possible. But if you think about it, it's never going to work." He knew Genesis wouldn't note his words, but it was good enough to try. But… did Genesis _really _think he could defeat Jenova…? _And _Chaos? That wouldn't happen, without _serious _luck. Which they didn't have. Sephiroth was much better off on Jenova and Chaos's side, even if he hated it. _Why am I thinking this…? Can't I fight back…? No… No, I can't… I won't…_

Genesis shook his head. "What have they _done _to you?! Ten years ago, you would have stood for what was right. Now… you're just going to let this world be destroyed?!"

Sephiroth shrugged. Genesis didn't get what was going to happen… nobody did… Nobody understood… No… _Nobody knows what it's like_… "Maybe I will. That's my choice, and not yours. It doesn't matter what I used to be like… can't you see I've changed? Who I am now isn't who I used to be…" He sighed. "But I'll admit it: I can't go on like this anymore. I just wish that I could erase this monster I've become…"

Genesis shook his head. "Don't you realize that you're not alone? Perhaps you're a monster, just like I know I am by now. But you're only the monster we all made you. It wasn't your choice… you can change now, and prevent a doomed future. It's not over…"

"I've stopped believing that I could ever make things change…" _It never… No, it never will… It never can… _"It's too late, anyways."

"It's not too late! It's _never _too late! This is your world as well as ours… you need to help us protect it."

Sephiroth shook his head. "This world will never be what I expected. I don't belong… Even if you say it will be alright, I know the truth now."

Genesis started pacing. "Honestly…? What _have _they done to you? You can't accept this… This isn't right… Are you even _trying _to fight back?!"

_Am I…? Am I… am I truly trying…? Do I need to? What have I become…? _Sephiroth shook his head, trying to clear his head. Yet he found it impossible. Why…?"Against myself, perhaps. The fight inside of me is always coursing through my veins… The war within me is always pulling me under… and, lately, it seems that it's finally breaking me…"

Genesis shook his head. "What's happened to us…?" He smirked slightly. "Just imagine what Angeal would say… I believe we're far past one of his lectures at this point…"

"Heh, yeah… Yeah, we definitely are…"

"If you know that, then why are you still doing what Jenova tells you?"

Sephiroth shrugged, turning away to hide the pain in his eyes. "I have to. It's who I am. It's what I have to do."

_And… if I don't, it will never… but, can I actually…? _Sephiroth paused. _No, I don't think that… But, I have to try… Can I? Even I don't know… I want to, so badly… I want it to work, but… five, not six? Could it ever work? I doubt it… _He nodded. "But… I still have to… I have to try to make it… I must… Everything… Figure it… get her to… have everything ready…" He sighed, turning back towards a confused Genesis.

Genesis honestly looked a bit worried. "So you _are _insane…?"

Sephiroth smirked. "I'm not insane…" _I'm not insane… _He laughed. _I'm not… not insane… _He smiled. "Or… perhaps I am… Has she finally broken me…? Could this all have affected me…?" He shook his head. "Genesis… I need to you to stay away from me for a while… I do believe that I've become slightly insane, and I don't want to harm you."

Genesis looked at him warily. "What about Cloud…?"

"Cloud will be fine. I can act quite well… I've learned to… And, after a while, I'll be alright again. I believe it's simply this place…" _Perhaps it is… _

"You're not going to do anything irrational… right…?"

Sephiroth smiled disarmingly at him. "No… no, not… not yet. But I will. Soon, I will. And it will kill me… I know it will. But I'll do it anyways."

Genesis was obviously incredibly concerned. "Er… Do you want me to find Jenova…?"

Sephiroth looked around. "No… she'll be here soon… But she can't know you know… I don't… I don't want to see how she would react… It'll make things worse… I wonder if she knew… Did she know it would do this to me? Maybe she did… Then, it's not just this building… When she smashed my defenses, it must have done more than I thought… But why…?" He sighed, not waiting for a response. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. You need to get out of here. Or should I? Hmm…"

Genesis shrugged. "I think you should probably get out… Jenova knows I'll be here, but she doesn't know about you…"

"Doubtful. She always knows where I am…"

"Still… this place is obviously affecting you far more than it's affecting me."

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes… yes, you're right…" He sighed. "Alright, then… Perhaps we'll see each other again soon. Hopefully I'll be sane the next time we speak…"

Genesis smiled slightly. "Yes, definitely." He paused. "By the way… do you… think that you'll ever really be able to forgive me…?"

Sephiroth smirked, turning and walking away. "We'll have to see, I guess." He then walked out of the reactor without saying another word.

Almost as soon as he was out of the reactor, Sephiroth felt the haze around his mind start to clear. Within moments, he was back to himself. So it _had _mostly been the reactor. But… why…?

Then, Sephiroth felt Cloud's aura approaching. He could tell that Jenova was with him, but she was hiding her aura. Why…? Ah, it didn't really matter. He had to get out of there…

Sephiroth stepped behind a part of the reactor, knowing from experience that anyone approaching wouldn't be able to see him. However, he could still see everything going on.

Sephiroth saw Cloud walk up the pathway, looking slightly depressed. Jenova was next to him, but she wasn't hiding her appearance. What if Shinra saw her…? Well, she'd probably figure it out…

Jenova paused, and Cloud looked back at her.

"What's wrong…?" Sephiroth heard Cloud ask. Jenova just stood there, looking around.

"I… don't know…" Sephiroth was worried that she could tell where he was, but she sighed and shook her head. "Never mind."

Cloud shrugged. "Before we go in to face Genesis… Is Sephiroth there, too…? Because if so, you should probably go…"

Jenova glared at Cloud, who winced. She nodded slightly. "I can do whatever I want. But… no, Sephiroth isn't in there."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled slightly. "Yes, I'm fairly certain…"

Cloud looked warily at her. "What did you do…?"

"What? Me? Nothing! Honestly, what? You think I'd hurt him?" Sephiroth glared at her, even though he knew she couldn't see him.

"I'm honestly not certain what you're capable of…" Cloud said, sighing slightly when Jenova's eyes acquired a slightly triumphant look in them.

"Hehe, so you _are _starting to get it… Anyways, don't worry about Sephiroth; he won't be an issue for a while."

"Why…?"

"Ugh, stop asking questions. He's fine, alright? What's important at the moment is Genesis."

Cloud nodded. "Of course… But… why is he in the reactor…?"

Jenova shrugged. "Who knows…? And honestly, who cares…? We just need to make sure that he knows he can't tell Sephiroth the truth."

Cloud nodded. "Alright… Then, let's go…"

Jenova started up the stairs, shaking her head and muttering something to herself. Cloud looked slightly confused, but Sephiroth couldn't tell whether or not he actually knew what Jenova was saying.

_I should probably go… Before Jenova realizes that I'm here… _He paused. _Hmm… Or perhaps I should see what happens… Ugh, I shouldn't… but… I should…_

He sighed unhappily, shaking his head. Even though it probably wasn't the best idea, he knew that he needed to follow Jenova and Cloud. Just in case things got out of hand, Sephiroth knew that he should probably be there…

Sephiroth quietly walked into the reactor as soon as he could tell that Cloud and Jenova wouldn't be able to hear him. He silently followed them, knowing that everything would be over if either of them heard him; he was still in his leather armor, so Cloud would figure out what was going on if they saw each other. And if Jenova found out that he was there… well, that just wouldn't be good. Better than Cloud finding out, maybe, but still definitely _not_ good.

Sephiroth was able to hide well enough as Jenova and Cloud came to a stop in the main part of the reactor. Cloud looked slightly uncomfortable – understandably – and Jenova just looked like she was getting impatient.

Jenova shook her head, sighing. She smirked, then, looking around. "Hey, Genesis. I know you're here…"

Genesis walked up to them, glancing over at where he obviously knew Sephiroth was. He looked slightly worried, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, he simply glared at Jenova. "What do you want…?"

Jenova nodded. "For you to stay away from Sephiroth, unless Cloud's there. You may think you know something, but you don't."

Genesis smirked. "Oh, don't I?" He asked, glancing at a confused Cloud. Poor, mixed-up Cloud… he didn't know a single thing about what was going on… Which was slightly odd, because it honestly was a bit obvious at this point. But that didn't really matter…

Jenova paused, glancing at Cloud. She then looked back at Genesis, a warning held in her eyes. She obviously understood that he had figured almost everything out, but Sephiroth couldn't be certain how much she thought Genesis knew. "No, you don't…"

Cloud shook his head. "What do you mean that he doesn't know anything…? You said he was going to tell Sephiroth the truth, right? About the past…? And Lucrecia, I'd assume? He knows that much, obviously…"

Sephiroth paused. Lucrecia…? He was fairly certain that Jenova had mentioned that name at least once, but she had never actually said who it was. Who was she…? And, more importantly, what did she have to do with Sephiroth…?

Genesis looked slightly panicked, and Sephiroth could tell that he was debating whether or not to tell Jenova that Sephiroth was actually there, listening. Why was mentioning this Lucrecia person so important? Genesis knew that he couldn't tell Jenova about Sephiroth, as that may risk both of their lives, but yet he still seemed to want to say something. He was obviously hiding something important that Sephiroth couldn't know about; he'd rather risk letting both of them face Jenova's wrath than let Sephiroth know about whatever it was. But all that meant was that Sephiroth now needed to know what it was that they were hiding…

Jenova shrugged, seeming not to notice Genesis's worry. "Oh, uh, right… That… Yeah. But if he didn't know before, he sure does now…"

Genesis paused, probably thinking over what to say next. "Yes, I know about that… I found many of Hojo's hidden texts that even Sephiroth has never seen… but I don't-"

Cloud interjected before Genesis could finish, however. And that may or may not have been a bit of manipulation on Sephiroth's part… Luckily, Cloud couldn't tell something was wrong if Sephiroth only suggested things to his subconscious… "Well of course he's never seen any of those, otherwise we wouldn't have had any of this happening in the first place. But, Genesis… how much _do _you know?" Jenova muttered something, smirking slightly. Maybe Cloud had said something…?

Genesis sighed, obviously choosing his words carefully. He probably could tell that Cloud's words were only mostly his own… "I know enough… At least, I know enough to not tell him about… Lucrecia… The last time he found something like that out by someone – me, of course – telling him… well, you both know what happened. There are some things that he needs to find out for himself. Once he gets his memories back, of course."

Jenova nodded. "Which won't be for a while. And even then, I'm not telling him about… her. I may have a tight grip on him, but that doesn't mean that finding out that I've been keeping something like that from him won't cause him to betray me…" She smirked slightly. "I just hope for his sake that he doesn't… he knows what will happen if he tries to betray me…"

_Betray her…? Alright, now I _need _to find out who this person is…_

Genesis nodded. "Of course… Listen, er… I know better than to tell him anything. Don't worry. You guys can just… go now?"

Jenova paused. She smiled slightly, though, which made Sephiroth worried. "Cloud, you go outside for a moment… Let me talk to Genesis…"

Cloud shook his head. "But shouldn't I be here…?"

"No. I don't want you in my way right now."

Cloud sighed. He obviously knew by now not to question Jenova, so he just shrugged. "Fine, fine… Just… don't do anything rash, alright?"

Jenova smiled disarmingly. "Ah, Cloud… I can do whatever I want. Haven't you figured that out by now?"

Cloud looked slightly worried, as did Genesis. But Cloud didn't say anything. Instead, he sighed, then turned around and walked out of the reactor – obviously with reluctance.

Jenova grinned, turning towards Genesis. "Alright, then," she said, the simple statement causing a wary Genesis to take a step back. He could guess what she did to Sephiroth, who was her ally… what would she do to Genesis when she wanted to know something…?

Jenova smiled slightly again, obviously pleased that Genesis knew what she was capable of. But she shook her head. "Ah, I'm not going to hurt you. Unless you give me a reason to, of course…"

Genesis shook his head. "Whether I do or not is up to you. Why did you make Cloud leave…?"

"You know quite well why I made him leave. How much do you know, _honestly_? And I don't mean about Lucrecia…"

Genesis shook his head. "Can you avoid saying that name…?"

She tilted her head, smiling slightly at Genesis's obvious discomfort. "Why? It's not like Sephiroth's here or something…" She paused. "Oh no. It would be too easy for the universe to make that ironic. If he's not here yet, he's going to show up soon…" She smirked, although there was an odd look in her eyes. "Oh, wait. No, he can't…"

'_Can't'…? So she _did _put some sort of spell on me…? But then how did I…?_

Genesis seemed to be wondering that same thing. "What do you mean, 'can't'?"

Jenova smirked. "Ah, I kind of knocked him out and put a spell on him so he can't wake up until after you're gone."

"Oh… Wait, what?" He paused, obviously wondering how Sephiroth had been awake. "Would there be any way for someone to break the spell you've got him under?"

Jenova paused, obviously going into thought about something that probably had absolutely nothing to do with Genesis's question. Great… what had Genesis said…? She shook her head, then. "Don't say that. Much of it, I'll admit, _does_ reflect the two of us – although I doubt that he's actually 'addicted' to it, but he _is_ seeming to get used to it – but the implied meaning of the entire thing… I don't like what that suggests." She smiled slightly at Genesis's dubious expression. Sephiroth couldn't help but wonder what she meant as well… what _did_ 'that' suggest…?

Jenova nodded, moving on as though Genesis understood everything she had said. "As to the question itself… Doubtful. Trust me; I know that it works. Ugh… I _definitely _know that it works…" She shrugged, disregarding Genesis's questioning look and continuing as though she hadn't said anything. "You'd have to be more powerful than I am, and so only one person I know could have done that. And he wouldn't have. Unless there's someone else, but I highly doubt it…" She shook her head, something obviously bothering her. "Anyways, why?"

"Oh, never mind. It doesn't really matter, I guess. Sheesh… I'm starting to understand how he went insane… I only understand about half of everything you've said… the rest is just a blur."

Jenova shrugged, smiling slightly. "Hey, it's not _my _fault you're so slow. Unlike me. And it's _definitely _not my fault that you've never died. Trust me… I've been trying to make that part happen…"

"I'm sure…" He shook his head. "Ugh… we're getting off-topic. The point is… how much do you think I know?"

"Hmm… I'd assume you _think _you know something. You probably think that Sephiroth has his memories. Correct?"

"Correct."

Jenova shook her head. "Well, you're wrong."

"I don't think I am."

She smiled slightly, knowingly. She wasn't very good at hiding things… If Genesis didn't already know the truth about Sephiroth, her knowing smile would have certainly given it away. "Oh? And why's that? You don't know a thing. Do remember how slow you are to figure things out…"

Genesis glared at her. "Stop saying that. You haven't exactly been discreet. You wouldn't be guarding Sephiroth whenever Cloud isn't there if you weren't trying to keep something from me."

"Maybe I just don't want you to remind him of the past," she said, her taunting tone seeming to dare him to continue.

Genesis narrowed his eyes. "Doubtful. I would know how dangerous that would be, don't you think?" He nodded. "Also, another thing… If he didn't remember, why would you knock him out?"

"Huh… that's true, isn't it…?"

"You're not very good at hiding things…"

She shook her head. "Everyone says that…"

"It's true."

"Maybe…" she said, shrugging. "Anyways, I should have known that there was no way to keep you from figuring out… As long as Cloud doesn't find out for at least a few more weeks, then I suppose it's fine."

Genesis sighed. "I know that everything happening right now is just barely hanging in the balance. Everyone's plans right now all connect in some way. Even both of ours are connected. If something goes wrong with your plans… something will, inevitably, go wrong with mine. And I can't allow that to happen, so close to the end of all of this. So don't worry… I won't tell Cloud and his friends. Although, he'll figure it out soon… He's not _that _stupid… I hope. He must get that something is wrong by now…" He sighed again, shaking his head unhappily.

Jenova nodded. "Yeah, I think he suspects _something _is up, but he's far too busy trying to figure out how to stop _me_… he's not focused on the _real _problem. And he ignores all of the obvious signs about what is going on around him, as he seems determined to simply try to lighten the blow of what's coming… He's only focused on protecting those closest to him, first and foremost. He'd give up his own life to save others…" She smiled slightly. "He almost remind me of…" She turned away, then, hiding her face from both Sephiroth and Genesis. Why…? "Never mind," she said flatly, after a moment of silence. Why had her voice changed so suddenly…? Even though her tone had seemed flat, Sephiroth was almost _certain _that he could detect some trace of… sadness? Could Jenova even _feel _that emotion…?

Genesis seemed to disregard the last part of her sentence. "The 'real problem'? Aren't _you_ the main problem? Or, at least, part of it?"

She paused, still not turning back around. But her voice was back to normal, at least. "Oh, yes… Yes, I guess I am…"

"And before I forget… who does Cloud remind you of, exactly…?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up," she said, her voice again flat. Genesis had better be careful…

"Well, I'm bringing it up. Who? Someone from your past? Do I know them?"

"Yes, someone from my past. And no, you don't know him… he died, two-thousand years ago…" She stopped talking, clenching both of her hands into fists. This was obviously a delicate subject…

_Wait… two thousand years ago…? Wasn't that when Jenova came to this Planet…? Does this have something to do with her killing the Cetra…? _Sephiroth couldn't help but wonder…

Genesis paused, obviously intrigued. He seemed to know that he may be able to use this to his advantage. However, if he wasn't careful, things might not end well for him… "A Cetra, then? I remember that that was when you came here and began killing the Cetra… was this person one of the ones you killed?"

A blue glow materialized around Jenova's left hand, causing Genesis to take a step back. She laughed slightly, obviously finding shelter in her insanity. "I'd suggest that you stop talking."

Genesis obviously knew the perils he was currently facing, and so he simply nodded. He may have been an incredibly arrogant person at times, but he seemed to know when to step down. "Fine… But just know that I _will _figure out what happened in your past… and I _will _use it against you, when the time comes. You're more of a monster than Sephiroth and I combined, but even you have your weaknesses when it comes to things of the past. And I _will _use those weaknesses against you."

She laughed again. "Oh? Just go ahead and try. I guarantee you… it will do nothing to me in the future. The past is the past; it's gone for good. I've killed hundreds, thousands… perhaps even millions. By myself. That's not even including those that died in the process of killing the others. If you count them, then I've probably killing hundreds of billions of people in my lifetime. Remember that I've been destroying entire planets for millennia… the death toll isn't even recordable anymore. And you know what? I don't care. So forgive me for all the damage done, but it's not over." She nodded. "I suppose you could call me a monster, and you would be perfectly right. I completely accept it. Yes; who I am isn't who I used to be. We've all been changed during our lifetimes… but few have had the time I have. During that time, I've become the twisted, sadistic, evil monster that you see before you now. And it's the fault of nobody but myself; I made myself into this. I no longer even try to erase this monster I've become; this is just simply who I am. And you know? I'm fine with it. Perfectly fine with it. Because I know what's coming. Everything I've done has been leading up to what's coming… And very, _very _few are prepared. I've had so long to plan what's coming… in truth, I suppose _none _are prepared. _You _are not prepared, no matter what you do. So do you understand, at least slightly? It doesn't matter what you do now; you cannot win. None of you can fight what is coming… and _none of you_ can end it." She glanced back at Genesis, a sly twinkle in her eyes. Did she find it amusing that everyone's doom was inevitable…? Or was there something else she was thinking about…? Was she going to attack Genesis? There were far too many questions…_**  
**_ Genesis seemed to note that something was wrong as well. He obviously knew that Jenova wasn't far from becoming violent, which wasn't something he wanted. So he simply nodded. "Yes. It's true. But we'll still try, alright? Someday… someday soon… I _will _stop you. I'll stop you, free Sephiroth… and, with Cloud and Minerva's help, we'll stop Chaos and end the threat to the universe… for good."

Jenova smiled slightly. "Oh, you know about Chaos, too? Good. Then you know just how bad your odds are of completing even one of those tasks."

"It doesn't matter how bad our odds are. We'll find a way…"

"And if you can't? What happens then?"

He shrugged. "I'll tell you when I know. For now, though, I don't want to plan as though I'm going to fail." He had that sly twinkle in his eyes again. What was he planning?!

She smiled slightly. "That's where you're going to go wrong, then. Six plans. Alright? You always need to expect failure, as it's likely you'll fail at some point. If you aren't prepared, everything will go downhill. But if you expect failure – if you strive for it, even – and have a plan that will take action when all else fails, you almost always _can't lose._" She nodded. "That's just a bit of advice, to keep this interesting…" She paused, then, going into thought. "But… you already knew all of that, didn't you? You're already planning on sabotaging your own plans, so that your most important one can work…"

Genesis froze. "How…?"

She shook her head. "I figure things out quickly. I can tell just by your words and actions that you're planning something that may require much sacrifice, but that will probably help you in the end. Correct?"

Genesis didn't say anything, and Jenova laughed. "Correct. Now, I must be going…"

Genesis didn't even try to stop Jenova as she started to walk away. She paused just before she walked out of the room, however, a slight smile on her face. "Oh, and Genesis?"

"What…?"

"You're wrong. About something you said earlier. And you may want to remember that in the future."

Genesis sighed unhappily, obviously just as confused as Sephiroth was. "And what was I wrong about…?"

"Well, I'm not going to tell you. That would be too easy." She nodded. "And another thing you may want to remember? You're slow…"

Genesis started to say something, but Jenova curled her left hand into a fist. Suddenly, Sephiroth felt incredibly faint. He collapsed forward and into plain sight, just barely catching himself before he hit the floor. He shakily stood up, eying Jenova warily. She nodded, looking all-too-pleased with herself. "I'm not," she finished, walking out as though nothing had happened.

Genesis was frozen, obviously just as worried as Sephiroth was. But Jenova didn't come back in, so she just seemed to have wanted to make a point. Sephiroth no longer felt faint, so it had apparently only been for that one moment.

Finally, after a moment of silence, Sephiroth sighed unhappily. "I need to get out of here without Cloud seeing me… See you later, I guess…"

Genesis shook his head. "Will you be alright?"

"I sure hope so. She didn't seem all too angry… but, next time, please don't try to commit suicide by trying to get her to talk about her past. At least, not when I'm in the room…"

Genesis smirked. "Will do." He paused, looking cautiously at Sephiroth. "And… about Lucrecia…"

Sephiroth sighed, cutting him off. "It's fine. I need to figure it out for myself; I get it. I'll just ask Jenova later… although, I doubt she'll tell me…"

Genesis looked as though he wanted to say something, but he obviously couldn't find the words. Then, though, he seemed to remember something. "By the way… how _did _you wake up after Jenova knocked you out…?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I just… woke up? She was probably lying about the magic or whatever you want to call it…"

Genesis obviously went deep into thought. "No… no, I doubt it. She seemed slightly bothered when she said that only someone more powerful than her could have helped you… She obviously knew at that point that you were awake, and that's why it bothered her so much. She wouldn't have bothered feigning the slight worry when neither of us knew that she knew about you…"

"I suppose you're right… I don't know, really. Perhaps we have a powerful ally that we don't know about." He shrugged. "We still don't know who Chaos's helper is, after all. Maybe he – or she – is secretly fighting Jenova and Chaos…?" Sephiroth paused. "Oh, do you even know about that…?"

"Ah, yes, I do. I know basically everything you do, now. I've heard Minerva talking to me quite a few times by now, even though I've never actually met her. She's told me a lot about what's going on…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Of course… Do either of you know who Chaos's ally is?"

Genesis thought for a moment. "No… Or, at least, I don't. As to Minerva… she's not responding at the moment, so her attention is probably elsewhere. I can tell that you seem to think this unknown person is someone we know… why?"

Sephiroth shrugged, thinking about that as well. "I suppose it would just make sense. We probably would have seen them at least once without the cloak on by now… Jenova and Chaos tend to not be able to sit back without actively participating for a while, and I would assume that it's the same for this person. It's most likely not someone we necessarily know _well…_ probably just somebody who has come into the picture every now and then. Or maybe you and I don't even know them; but maybe Cloud does. I need to figure out a way to ask him if he's met anyone suspicious lately, who tends to show up out of nowhere for no real reason. That would probably tell us who it is…" Sephiroth thought for a moment, remembering back to Cosmo Canyon. "I remember, back at Cosmo Canyon… I followed Cloud there when he went there recently. He told Marlene, who told me – don't ask if you don't know – that I wasn't the only one there watching Cloud, though… Cloud didn't see who it was, but as I didn't see them or feel them, I'm assuming it wasn't Jenova or Chaos. However, I'm now thinking that it was probably this unknown person. So they were probably at Cosmo Canyon that day for more than when Cloud realized they were there. Perhaps they were even hiding among the residents… or maybe, Cloud even talked to them without knowing it. It would make sense…"

"Yeah, I guess… But, would they do that? Wouldn't it be a bit of a risk?"

"You really think they care…?"

Genesis shrugged. "Probably true." He sighed. "But… you need to get going. If Cloud sees you…"

Sephiroth sighed, nodding. "Yeah, I know…" He paused, though, wanting to know more than he did. "Genesis… What are you planning, by the way…?"

Genesis shook his head. "I wish I could tell you. But, truthfully, that may ruin everything. Jenova _can't _know…"

"Er… she's not here right now… And I doubt that she's listening in… She wouldn't be able to help from saying something; trust me."

Genesis seemed to look right past Sephiroth for a moment, smiling slightly. Sephiroth instantly knew that someone had been talking mentally to him. Minerva, perhaps? But why…? "Yes, yes. Very true. But _it's_ bound to find out somehow, right? After all, the Thing has little control when it comes to having to control _everything…_"

_**Hey! He. Is. So. Dead to me. So is she. She knows I don't like talking about that. Er… you don't know what he meant by that, do you…? I doubt even he does… But they can't blame me. I was in an **_**awful**_** mood, which has to do with what Genesis was trying to get me to talk about earlier… I just guess I lost control of myself… Or, it, since I was controlling a mostly-dead organism with a lust for blood… I was a bit comatose at the time, as you know, so I couldn't fully do it myself. Of course, that thing **_**was **_**actually a part of me, which is why I could completely control it and why I was still able to use most of my abilities, but normally I would be able to replicate someone without having to- …ugh, never mind. There's no point in explaining. Plus, I don't want to think about that. Luckily, nobody will ever know, since they all think it was a fictional story… Ah, I love controlling people and getting them to tell true stories while thinking it's a fictional story they thought of themselves… **_

_**((Wait wait wait... do I need to make it a crossover now...?!))**_

_((...))_

**_((What? I worry about these things!))_**

_(No, you don't need to. I read this thing called the 'Guidelines'. 'Crossover' would mean it's two 'worlds' in one 'story'. Things that truly happened in reality simply being hinted at in reality doesn't make it a 'crossover', since it's all in one 'storyline', which is reality.))_

**_((Has 'reality' become your new favorite word...?))_**

_((No... I'm just trying to get a point across... The readers probably still think this is simply a fake story...))_

**_((They think a_ lot _of things are fake stories...__))_**

Sephiroth jumped as soon as he heard the first word of whatever she had said, and Genesis nodded triumphantly; he obviously had heard her as well. But what had Genesis said that had gotten on Jenova's nerves so much…? She was always going off into random conversations like that, but she had never said anything about something that had so obviously happened in her past before…

Genesis sighed as soon as Jenova was done talking. "See? She doesn't leave you alone. Which is why I can't tell you. I'm not as slow as she thinks…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah… Alright, I suppose I'll see you later…"

Before Genesis could say anything else, Sephiroth turned and walked away. He didn't have much time before Cloud got back to Nibelheim and saw that Sephiroth wasn't there…

Sephiroth made his way outside, hiding in the mountains until Cloud turned and left. It had taken some convincing from Jenova, Sephiroth could tell, but she had disappeared and left Cloud to head towards the town by himself.

Oh, great. If she had left Cloud, then she would probably-

"Am I really so predictable?!" Jenova said from behind Sephiroth, making him jump.

He turned around to face her, nodding. "Yeah, kind of…" He paused, looking cautiously at her. "About Genesis…"

She shrugged. "Eh, I'm over it. Don't worry." She herself looked slightly worried. "You didn't get what he said, to get me to react… right…?"

"Huh? No; no, not really. Why? It didn't seem that important…"

She nodded, looking relieved. "Good. All you need to know is that I _don't _spear living beings and tear them apart, I _don't _isolate people and take them down one by one while also causing them all to suffer mental breakdowns, and I _don't _find different brutal ways to kill and absorb them while trying to escape and take out all of humanity."

Sephiroth got _slightly _worried when he was all but certain that he heard her mutter "Anymore…" underneath her breath. But he decided to ignore it, hoping that he had heard wrong. Instead, he just nodded, still slightly disturbed by what he knew he _had _heard. "Er, right… Okay…"

She sighed. "Ah, never mind. Let's just… forget my past. Alright? Alright. Now, anyways… You'd better get back before Cloud notices you're gone…"

Sephiroth smirked. "Got it. Thanks for telling me what I already know."

"If you already knew that, then why are you still talking to me…?"

"Because you-! Ugh, never mind…" Sephiroth shook his head, extending his one wing. He paused, though. "By the way… Did you really do something to me so that I wouldn't regain consciousness until Genesis was gone…?"

She shrugged. "Yeah? What's so wrong with that?"

"Well, a lot, first off. But, most importantly… You don't know how I woke up?"

She sighed. "No… no, I'll admit that I don't."

"Hmm… If it wasn't you, it wasn't Chaos, and it wasn't me… then who…?"

Jenova thought for a moment, but then shook her head. "The only person I know who could have done it is dead. But… maybe there's someone else…?" She sighed. "It doesn't matter. I'll figure it out. For now, though, you need to get going."

"Right…" Sephiroth sighed and took off back towards Nibelheim without saying another word. Jenova had been getting so much more confusing lately… Especially now that the issue of her past had come up. But why had-

Sephiroth paused mid-air, looking around. Had someone just said something…? Obviously not Jenova… had it been the person from before? If so, why did they sound farther away than they had before…?

Sephiroth shook his head unhappily, continuing forward again. What was going on lately? The person that was trying to contact Sephiroth… who were they? How did they have to strength to contact him, even slightly? What did they want from him?

And, the bigger question… _why?!_


	24. Unstable

**-Disclaimer- I don't own 'Who Goes There?', or anything that I accidentally alluded to without knowing - A/N: Again, sorry the last chapter was so long. Okay, in this chapter, the slightly awkward part was a request/demand from my friend, so I'm giving her credit here so she doesn't kill me XD. I'm going to be bringing up Jenova's past a lot more now, starting with this chapter, since it'll be pretty important later on; and I also just want to give her a few moments of weakness, like every conflicted character should have. One character I'm going to bring up a lot is an O/C, as most characters from her past would be, since they'd probably all be dead by now. I'm also going to bring in a group/race that isn't in the regular FF7 storyline, but I needed to come up with something… I know I just randomly introduce them, but I needed to at some point. ****-And, can I get an opinion? Would anyone hate it if I put in a very dark part of the story in an upcoming chapter? It was originally in this one, but I wasn't sure if everyone would be alright with it. So… yes or no…? It would advance the story and probably change your view of a character, but it's a pretty depressing little part… As in, one of the characters almost kills themselves…-**** Anyways, I'm also going to start speeding up the events a bit, probably. And, as always, thanks **_**so so much **_**to the readers and reviewers! It's great to know that I have people out there that love my writing!**

* * *

_**Unstable**_

Cloud sighed as he walked back into the town. It was far too dark out now to get back to Edge safely… But could he stay here tonight? Was that even safe, with Shinra and Genesis somewhere nearby? It would have to be… First, though, Cloud needed to find Sephiroth and make sure he was alright…

Cloud quickly made his way through the town to where he had left Sephiroth. Oddly enough, he was still there, waiting. Had he seriously been there the whole time…? Of course, Cloud hadn't really expected his old enemy to have gone anywhere else; after all, what could he have honestly done in such a simple place?

Sephiroth looked up at Cloud. "Oh, there you are… I was honestly starting to get worried."

Cloud shrugged. "Why?"

"I don't know… I guess I was slightly worried that Genesis had attacked you…"

Cloud shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. I-" Then, though, he narrowed his eyes, realizing something was off. "Wait a minute… How did you know Genesis was here?"

Sephiroth shrugged, "I saw him heading up towards the mountains. I assumed it had something to do with you, but I didn't follow him; obviously, since I can't fly."

Cloud smirked, nodding. "Right… Did he say anything to you?"

Sephiroth shook his head, looking away. "No, of course not. What would he have to say to me right now? I don't know anything about what's going on, still…"

"Oh, right…" Cloud noticed that Sephiroth was being oddly distant. Why…? Well, it didn't really matter. Perhaps he was just tired.

Cloud opened the compartments of Fenrir, putting the Fusion Swords together just in case. He also grabbed a small sack of materia that he kept with him at all times, slinging it over his shoulder. "It's too late to get back to Edge tonight, so we're just going to have to stay at the inn here tonight. Alright?"

Sephiroth nodded, sighing. "Yeah. Yeah, that's fine with me."

Cloud paused. "Is something wrong…?" He asked, putting his hand on Sephiroth's shoulder. Strangely enough, Sephiroth winced slightly, pulling away subconsciously. Cloud paused. "Are you alright…? Is something wrong with your shoulder…?"

Sephiroth sighed unhappily, walking a few steps towards the main part of the town. He cursed underneath his breath. "It must have gotten bruised when–" He paused, shaking his head. "Ah, I sort of tripped and fell against one of the buildings…?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow, slightly doubting that he was telling the truth. However, there really was no other explanation, so… "Alright…" Cloud shrugged, walking into the town and leaving Sephiroth no choice but to follow him. There were no thieves in Nibelheim, so Cloud knew that he could just leave Fenrir out. And there was nobody to see Sephiroth, so it was quite simple for the two of them to get to the inn. But how was Cloud going to get Sephiroth past the guy at the front desk…?

Luckily, that didn't seem to be an issue, as there was already somebody talking to the clerk. Sephiroth seemed to catch Cloud's silent look at him, as he quickly and quietly walked up the stairs.

Cloud turned his attention back to the clerk and the woman he was talking to. Cloud didn't recognize the woman at first. She looked perfectly normal from the back: normal clothes, slightly tanned skin, and long blonde hair. She was busy getting two rooms from the clerk, even though she was by herself. As soon as she had paid, she seemed to realize that Cloud was standing behind her.

"Oh, and here's my friend now…" she said, slightly confusing Cloud. Then, though, she tilted her head slightly so that she could see Cloud out of the side of her vision, and Cloud realized that she was wearing sunglasses; Jenova's trademark when she was trying to blend in. Outside, Cloud might have let that fact go, but it was quite obvious to him since they were inside _and _it was dark out.

The clerk nodded. "Alright. Thank you both, and have a nice stay."

Jenova nodded. "Thank you, sir," she said, which was new to Cloud since he had never heard her being polite before…

Jenova nodded for Cloud to follow her up the stairs. He quickly matched her pace, glancing sideways at her. "Well, you certainly work quickly…"

She shrugged. "I've learned to."

Cloud paused. "I forgot that you could change your form to look like someone else entirely… but why now?"

She glanced at him. "That should be a simple answer…"

Cloud was slightly confused, but then he saw Sephiroth waiting for him up ahead. He looked confused and honestly a bit panicked when he saw Jenova; he was probably wondering if something was wrong. She smiled slightly, shrugging, as she handed Cloud the keys to his room, and then handed Sephiroth his.

Cloud glanced at Jenova, and then at Sephiroth. "She… works here."

Jenova nodded. "Uh-huh. Yep. That's right."

Sephiroth shrugged. "Alright?" Cloud had been worried that seeing Jenova would have done something to Sephiroth, but he wasn't acting any differently. He did, though, mutter something that Cloud didn't catch. However, Jenova seemed to hear him, as she smiled slightly.

"Sorry," she said, glancing momentarily at Sephiroth's shoulder. She honestly hadn't sounded all too apologetic. She then turned her attention to Cloud. "For taking, uh, so long, I mean. Do I mean that? I don't know what I mean." She shook her head. "Ugh, I must admit that I'm tired myself…"

Sephiroth paused. "When did you get sleep last…? A few days?"

"More like a few thousand years…" she muttered only loud enough for Cloud to catch, as he was standing right next to her. "Actually, I do believe that it's been _much_ longer…" But she shrugged at Sephiroth. "Yeah, something like that. Life's been busy lately. Know what I mean?"

"Yes. Yes, I do…"

_She hasn't slept in thousands of years…? But wasn't she comatose for the past two-thousand years…? How can she get by without sleep, I wonder…? _Cloud couldn't help but wonder these things… Too late, though, he remembered that Jenova could hear his thoughts, as he just barely saw her glance at him from underneath her dark glasses.

_**'Being comatose is different than resting.' Especially when it's forced on you. And it's easy enough to get by when you're me; I have alternate means of sustaining myself…**_

Cloud was fairly certain that he didn't want to know what she meant just by the way he saw her smile slightly, so he sighed. "Alright, well… We should probably get some rest ourselves. So… goodnight, guys…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah. 'Night…" he said, turning away from Jenova and briskly walking over to the door to his own room. He quickly opened it and walked in, locking the door behind him.

Cloud paused, glancing at Jenova. "Is he alright…?"

"Yeah, he's fine. It's probably just knowing that Genesis is nearby. I doubt that it has anything to do with me."

"I didn't say it did…"

She sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind. It probably _is _Genesis… Trust me; that would make a lot of sense…"

"Yeah, I suppose it would…" He sighed. "Well, I should probably call Tifa and let her know that I won't be back tonight…"

She nodded. "Oh, alright. Don't mind me, then." She moved her hand and unlocked the door to Cloud's room, pushing it open and walking inside. Cloud sighed unhappily.

"You're not leaving…?"

"Not for a while, no. I need to watch you and prove that I'm capable of defending my plans. Since Chaos apparently doesn't _trust _me…"

"Right…" He sighed, shaking his head. "You can be incredibly annoying at times…"

"Oh, good. Then I'm doing something right," she said, grinning evilly at him.

Cloud paused, suddenly becoming interested in something he had never thought about before. "Why _are _you like this, anyways?"

"Eh?"

"Why are you so evil? Did something happen to you in the past to make you like this?"

She shrugged. "Nope. I've always been like this. Where I come from, everyone is evil. ..._Was, _I suppose. I'm just better at it than they were. You see, I grew up on evil, lived my early life slowly roasting alive our local equivalent of kittens, and amused myself through maturity on new and ingenious torture."

Cloud was slightly worried. "…You did what?"

She shook her head. "Ah, you won't get it."

"Oh, another one of those things I don't get. So you were just joking?"

"On all but the last one!" she said happily, grinning disarmingly at Cloud, who was worried again. But he knew that he couldn't think about it now. He sighed, shaking his head as he walked into the room and closed the door. He glanced over at the fireplace, realizing for the first time how cold it was in the room. He put down his sword and his bag of materia, which he dug through until he found a fire one. He put the materia into his arm, walking up to the fireplace and being followed closely by Jenova.

Cloud rolled his eyes and focused his energy onto the materia that was currently fused with his spirit. He then pointed his hand at the fireplace. A quick jet of fire launched from Cloud's outstretched hand, sparking the strangest reaction from Jenova. As soon as she saw the quick jet of flame, she darted behind a nearby couch, ducking down so that Cloud couldn't even see her anymore.

Cloud smirked with amusement, glancing from the now-smoldering log in the fireplace to where Jenova was hiding. She slowly stood up from behind the couch, glancing from the fire to Cloud. She was back in her normal body and outfit, so her quick reaction must have accidentally changed her back into her more comfortable form.

Cloud was trying his hardest not to laugh. "You're afraid of fire…?"

"No! I just… don't like it very much."

Cloud smirked slightly. "Oh, really?" He controlled the flame again, this time directing the small jet of fire somewhat towards Jenova. She cried out and hit the floor, not coming back up until Cloud had taken the materia out of his arm and dropped it onto the ground for her to see.

She glared at him. "Alright, so I _may _have some…_ issues_ with fire. But I have my reasons."

Cloud nodded, smiling slightly. "I'd assume so. Anything else you 'don't like' that I should probably know about so I can use it against you in the future…?"

She paused, thinking. "Electric rods. But good luck getting one of those!"

"Aren't some of the Turk weapons electrified…?"

"Damn."

Cloud shrugged. "Do you mind me asking why you're afraid of fire and electricity?"

"Easy. I've gotten set on fire multiple times, and I was once stabbed with an electrified rod for nearly five minutes. So excuse me for hanging onto that, but I've learned to stay away from those things." Cloud could tell that she was holding some information back, but she had told him enough.

Cloud paused, now honestly interested. "Someone's tortured you in the past…?" He found that hard to believe, but then again, it would probably make sense; that could be why she acted the way she did, and why she had become sadistic herself.

"Without knowing it, yes. But they wanted to; trust me." She shook her head. "Oh, they sure wanted to. So, so much. They didn't even know I could feel it. I'd never been through something like that before." Then, though, she laughed, an odd look in her eyes. "Well, actually, I have been, and _they _knew what they were doing. They _really _knew what they were doing, every single time... " She shook her head, wincing visibly. "Oh, it doesn't matter. What about Tiferet?"

"Oh! Right…"

Cloud quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Tifa, who picked up almost immediately."

"_Cloud?! Where _are _you?!"_

Cloud sighed. "Still in Nibelheim. A lot happened, so I'm going to have to stay the night. Sorry…"

"_Oh… No, that's fine… Are you alright?"_

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

"_Oh, I'm alright. Just tired… And what about Sephiroth?"_

"He's fine."

"…_And Jenova?"_

Cloud glanced over at Jenova, who was meanwhile staring the fire down as though she thought it might attempt to eat her at any moment. Honestly, he found her fear of fire cruelly ironic, since he was fairly certain that she had had something to do with burning down Nibelheim all those years ago… "Yeah, she's… Well, she's Jenova. Simple as that. But she's not trying to kill me, if that's what you mean."

"_Alright, good. I was worried…" _Tifa sighed. _"Alright… sleep well, Cloud. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"_

"Alright, Tifa. See you tomorrow."

Cloud hung up the phone. He started to say something to Jenova – who had started threatening the fire, thanks to her obvious insanity – but his phone suddenly rang. He looked at it, expecting it to be Tifa. Instead, it was Vincent calling again.

Cloud quickly answered, slightly confused. "Vincent…?"

"_Cloud. Where's Jenova?"_

Cloud glanced at Jenova again, wondering if she was paying attention. However, she seemed to be too focused on her conversation with the fireplace – she kept on pausing, so Cloud was fairly certain that she thought it was talking back to her. He smirked slightly. "With me, still… Why?"

"_I need you to see how she reacts to something. I finally was able to have Chaos speak to me again. Ever since he said something about not trusting Jenova, I wanted to find out why. I was able to annoy him enough – thanks to Yuffie talking to me moments before – so that he said that he didn't think she would turn on him, but only because she knew that she would only win if she stayed his ally. Otherwise, she had a reason to possibly betray him."_

Cloud froze. If he could get Jenova to betray Chaos, then they would _definitely _have a chance at winning. But… what could Chaos have done to her…? Had _he _been the one to torture her…? Somehow, Cloud doubted that, but he couldn't rule it out. "Did he tell you why?"

"_After a while more of pestering him – which you know _isn't _easy for me – I finally was able to cause him to slip and say a name: Cantus. I don't know if that's a person, or a place, or what. But it has something to do with Jenova's past, and perhaps, if you can remind her of this thing, we may be able to stir up tensions between her and Chaos… If we get lucky, they may even destroy each other._

Cloud nodded, glancing at Jenova, who had stopped taunting the fire to look at him. Had she heard what Vincent had said…?

She shook her head. "I heard, but I wasn't necessarily paying attention. What did he say? And don't lie, because I'll be able to tell…"

Cloud sighed. "Alright. Thanks, Vincent, and wish me luck."

"_Good luck… I have a feeling you'll need it with her…"_

Cloud closed his phone, sliding it back into his pocket and turning towards Jenova. "Well… he said that he had heard a name from your past that may be quite important."

She paused. "Do tell. I don't remember many people from my past; mostly nameless victims." She grinned disarmingly at the last part, obviously still not fully recovered from her sudden insanity that had probably been brought upon by thinking about the worst parts of her past. Then, though, she shook her head. "Ugh. Sorry. I tend to avoid dark parts of my past, because they do that to me." She shrugged. "But I'm sane again. And I'm working on controlling myself. Normally, I can. I guess, lately, things _have _been changing in this world." She smirked. "So it would make sense that I would be affected as well. Anyways… What were you saying? What had Vincent told you?"

Cloud was slightly worried, but he knew that she was telling the truth about being sane at that moment. She was naturally an emotionless person, obviously, so Cloud was fairly certain that he would be safe to bring up a simple name. "Er,.. Jenova? Do you recognize the name 'Cantus'?"

Jenova froze, her entire body stiff. Her entire expression changed into a look of despair that he had never though he would see from _anyone_; let alone her. She gently stroked one of her katanas, a dark look in her eyes. Almost instantly, though, her features relaxed. She avoided eye-contact with Cloud for some reason, and she clasped her hands behind her back. She shook her head and smiled at Cloud. She had obviously drifted back into her unstable mind. "What? No… no, I can't say that I know that person. Sorry."

"…Are you sure? Because your reaction is telling me something different…"

She shrugged, looking around the room. Then, she looked right behind Cloud, and Cloud looked into her eyes. And, honestly, he was quite scared by the look of wild insanity they held in them. He had never seen her like this; not even when he had fought her while Sephiroth had been trying to call down Meteor, which was the most insane he had thought he could ever see someone. Sure, she hadn't been in this form back then, but her eyes had always looked the same. And the look of insanity in them back then didn't even slightly compare to what Cloud now saw. Whoever this Cantus was, the name obviously held some incredible importance to Jenova; so important that she didn't want to face it. And so, to avoid her past and the emotions she didn't want to feel, she had consciously let any mental stability she had left completely break. Cloud had never thought that she may have had some emotional disturbance underneath her normally calm, morbidly playful attitude. He had always thought that she couldn't even _feel _emotions. But would this send her against Chaos… or Cloud? Or, perhaps, the whole world, even?

Jenova grinned playfully, still obviously able to read Cloud's mind. "Oh, I see. _That's _why you brought it up, hmmmm?" She giggled slightly. "Winning this is obviously important to you, if you were truly willing to risk my reaction. Well, if you want to know who I'm going to take this out on…" She smiled, looking around the room for a moment and then looking back a Cloud with a sly glint in her eyes.

Cloud had never known how fast Jenova could be when she wanted to. But the next thing he knew, he was pressed down on the bed, unable to move. The strangest and most awkward thing, though, was that Jenova, without any better option, was using her own body to hold him down. She had her sword in her left hand, which she was pressing down against his throat, while she had her right hand on his chest, propping herself up slightly so that she wasn't completely on top of him. She had her legs on either side of him, which kept him from moving no matter how hard he tried. He glared at her, but he also couldn't help but blush slightly because of the awkward position they were in. And her tight outfit wasn't helping… Jenova looked highly amused, but she also looked slightly confused. She could obviously tell how uncomfortable Cloud was, which she seemed to enjoy, but he doubted that she even knew _why _he was uncomfortable. Being a killer all her life, Cloud doubted that she had even ever had time to learn about anything like that…

Jenova smiled slightly. "Well, you see…" she whispered in his ear, tapping her fingers on his chest and not making matters better. "You'll just have to find out, won't you?" she whispered to him, grinning. She pushed herself off of the bed, and Cloud sat up, still glaring at her. Jenova shrugged, sheathing her katana. She grinned playfully at Cloud again, and then looked away. Then, though, she paused. She laughed slightly, her tone becoming much different all of a sudden. "I wonder… Will I end up killing… the last Guardian…?"

"Er… what?" he asked, standing up, surprised by her randomness.

She was silent for a moment. "I don't why I was suddenly thinking about this, but… the Guardian. She's been following you, you know. But she doesn't deserve to be a Guardian… not anymore. She's become corrupt… and I do believe that I need to kill her soon…"

Cloud paused, wondering for a moment if she was still insane. He looked cautiously at her. "Alright… now, what _is _a Guardian?"

"Oh, I forgot you don't know… I've been killing them all for quite a while, you know. Now, there's one left. And she's on this world." She nodded, deciding to answer his question. "As to what a Guardian_ is_… Every world that has – or had, thanks to me – life on it has what is called a Guardian to protect it. It's technically a race. There is one Guardian per world. They are immortal beings that are incredibly powerful. As in, _incredibly _powerful. Around the same power level as me. Over nine-thousand, and such. Normally, a Guardian would give his or her life to protect their planet, and most of them did. But there's one left that I've yet to deal with. You talk to her all the time, actually. She wouldn't sacrifice herself for her planet… _this _planet, actually. She became corrupt, which is why I tend to call her the 'Guardian of Corruption', since I needed a label for her and all. She tried in the beginning, so I've heard, to defend everyone. But she was, by _far_, the most powerful of the Guardians. Her power level is actually _exactly _equal to mine, which is why I've had trouble killing her. Anyways, unfortunately, the universe gave the most power to the one Guardian who happened to actually have an evil nature hidden within her. At first, Chaos tried to get her on his side, and she actually _did _side with him for a while. Then, though, he betrayed her in an attempt to make her harder and colder than she already was. It worked, but not without a great sacrifice that made her into a virtually emotionless, insane, and powerful being that will stop at nothing to win. Now, I've been trying to kill her for quite a while, but she always escaped me. She's a pretty good actor, unfortunately, which has made it hard. And, after a while, I guess I forgot about trying to kill her. Now, though, you've reminded me of that quest. Perhaps, if she can't fix things soon, I shall have to go to more drastic measures…"

Cloud paused, thinking about the one girl that always seemed to be everywhere. Deneh had feared and respected her, which would make her powerful. And she had obviously known Jenova, which she proved when she showed up at Icicle Inn. Could that be this 'Guardian'? If so, should he help Jenova kill her…? He wasn't actually on either of their sides, but that woman had seemed pretty nice when Cloud had talked to her…

Jenova shrugged. "You mean that girl that you had been talking to back when I had been at the Northern Crater…? I don't know, but perhaps that could be her… Honestly, it could be _anyone. _Guardians are… masters of disguise, I should say, as I don't really know how else to phrase it. They have to be, since they will always need to fit in with the dominant race of the world at certain times. They always have their normal form that they prefer when not around others, but they can look like whatever they want, as long as the creature is native to their world. If not, then they will need to… well, I'm not expecting you to know highly advanced biology like I do, so basically, they have to learn about the alien races to copy them first. It's actually pretty simple, if you know about protoplasm, atomic nuclei, et cetera… which I'm guessing you don't."

Cloud glared at her, and she smiled slightly. She shrugged, though. "Honestly, it's not that hard of a concept. But, anyways, the Guardians are superior to other races of their planet, since they can kind of be anything they want. The Guardians are also intellectually superior to other races, so they can fool almost anyone. You'd never know if you were talking to, say, for instance, an actual Human or a Guardian."

"And do all Guardians originally look human…?"

She shrugged. "More or less. Not always, though. They tend to have a natural form that is suited to their environment and such. Like, the Guardian of this Planet looks mostly Human, I believe, since she was first awoken – long story – at the time that the Cetra had very first appeared."

Cloud thought for a moment. "So… the Guardian of our Planet would look basically like a Cetra in her normal form…?" If so, then Cloud wondered if one of Marlene's powerful Cetra-friends was actually the Guardian.

Jenova shrugged. "How should I know…? Although I believe so… her eyes may have been different than a Cetra's, in order to mark her as what she was, but I'm fairly certain that everything else about her looked Human… or, Cetra."

"Anything else I should know about these Guardians?"

"No, not really. Why do you care, anyways?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know… I suppose I just want to know more about what's going on…" Then, though, a thought struck him. "So… Is Cantus a Guardian…?"

"No…" Jenova smiled playfully back at him. "But if you ever say that name again, Cloud, I swear to you that I shall tear you apart slowly from the inside out, using the very blood that runs through your veins." She grinned. "Understand?"

She was obviously still insane, and yet he could tell that she was dead serious. So he nodded, slightly stunned. "Yeah… Yeah, of course."

"Heh, good. Now… I should probably be going."

Cloud sighed unhappily. "Alright… But we're going to be able to leave tomorrow, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Of course. Why not?"

"Because I want to get an early start. I want to go back up to Icicle Inn… after I take Sephiroth back to Midgar, of course. I feel like there's something up there I need to see…" He smirked at her. "Something to do with you."

She shrugged. "Alright. Fine by me. The Northern Crater, you mean, then?"

He paused, nodding. "Yeah… I think so. Ever since Vincent told me the name of the person I'm not allowed to mention, I've had this weird feeling… I think it has something to do with the Northern Crater."

She shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. That'd definitely be possible…"

She was being withdrawn, so Cloud could tell there was something she wasn't telling him. But he ignored it, as he was suddenly becoming exhausted. He glared at Jenova. "You're stealing my energy again, aren't you…?"

She grinned at him. "You're point?"

"Don't you have some other way of getting energy…?"

She sighed. "Well, yeah, but I'd prefer not to use it. I'm just now remembering how overboard I went once by using it… So I'll probably be drawing energy from others for a while…"

"Can't you just sleep or something…?"

"No way. There's no time for that."

He shrugged, suddenly having to catch himself on the bed again. Jenova shook her head unhappily. "You humans have such little energy compared to me…" She paused. "Although, I must admit… you have far more energy than any human I've seen before. Quite similar, in fact, to…" She shook her head again, looking confused. "That's the second time I've compared you two… I wonder why?"

Cloud shrugged. "Not sure. But… I'm fairly certain that having more energy than a human is due to the fact that I have some of your cells in me. Remember?"

She smirked. "Yes, of course I remember. Oh, if only I had been in my physical body back then…" She grinned. "I would have gotten revenge for all of us on that Hojo guy… Hehehehe…"

"Oh yeah, I forgot that you must have hated him as well…"

"_Oh _yeah… I tried talking to him telepathically, and I know that he heard me, even if he pretended not to. He almost always had more than one person in there with him, and he obviously didn't want to let them know that I was still alive, if they didn't already. But I could tell by reading his mind that he heard me… And, of course, he told me to shut up the one time he came in alone when I was making a bunch of sarcastic comments, so that was pretty obvious…"

Cloud couldn't help but smile slightly. "Right…" He sighed unhappily. "Well, thanks to you, I should probably get some rest. So… see you tomorrow, I guess…"

She nodded. "Yes, you will. Especially if you're going to the Northern Crater." She shook her head unhappily and simply disappeared, making Cloud sigh. He shut off all of the lights and laid down on the bed, falling asleep almost instantly thanks to having almost no energy left. He never expected what would happen now that he knew more than he probably should have…


	25. Frozen

**A/N: -Disclaimer- I don't own FF7, Who Goes There?, or Within Temptation ('Frozen') - Helloooooo again. Okay, so… thanks to the readers and reviewers! *Hands everyone a cookie* Now… People that ask questions, can you **_**please**_** review with an actual account so that I can answer you? I'm **_**perfectly**_** fine with you asking questions, but I can only respond through the author notes when you want me to answer a question about the story if it's not from an account. And I know by watching my friends that there are a lot of people who don't read these. But, if you do read this, Carly Strife, to answer your question about Jenova's fear of fire in this fanfiction… It's partially because of something that happened in her FF7-related past that I'll mention later, and it's partially a nod to something else. It seems like Jenova was, in the original game, based at least somewhat off of the Thing from the movie(s), 'The Thing', and the book, 'Who Goes There?'. If she wasn't based off of it even slightly, then it's a pretty big coincidence. They can both control every cell in their bodies, they can both copy the bodies and memories of other organisms, they are both telepathic (which is in the book, not necessarily the movies), they can both alter their own forms, they both wanted to take over the world, they both crashed and were sealed away in the arctic for thousands of years, etc. Anyways, if you've never seen the movies or read the book, the protagonists tend to burn and kill the Thing with fire… a lot. Which would probably make it fear/hate fire. In my fanfiction, I hint multiple times that Jenova wasn't **_**based**_** off of it, but that those events were actually something that really happened in her past, and that she actually **_**was **_**the Thing, or at least she was using its body. Which would, of course, probably make her at least slightly afraid of fire, as she would probably not want to be burned/nearly burned to death multiple times again. Wow, that was long… Alright, that's really it. Next chapter! Here we go…**

* * *

_**Frozen**_

When Cloud woke up the next morning, his entire head was spinning. Not because of Jenova having drawn his energy, but because he was fairly certain that something odd had happened. He wasn't really certain _what _had happened – he didn't remember – but he _did _remember a few vague parts. Something about the Northern Crater, and… glass? Did that make sense…? And some other words that he didn't recognize… Vitrum… _something. _He couldn't remember the second part, but it started with an 's'. It was obviously in another language… Maybe the language of the Cetra? That would make sense… Cloud was also fairly certain that his dream had had something to do with Cantus, but he still wasn't certain who or what that was. If it was a person, then perhaps that was who was trying to tell Cloud about something… He decided that he would have to ask Jenova about it later, when they were out of Nibelheim…

Cloud was startled when he heard Jenova laugh slightly from nearby. He looked over to where she was reading a book on the couch she had been hiding behind the night before. Instead of lying down normally, though, she was sideways and backwards, using her legs to hang on to the back of the couch while hanging upside-down off of the main part of it. She had obviously been laughing at whatever she was reading, because she didn't seem to be paying Cloud any attention. How long had she been there…?

Jenova grinned. "_Ohhhh_ yeah, _that's _why nobody calls me a 'pet'! Hehe… ah, they thought he was just starting to go slightly insane. But nope! Little did they know that it wasn't even him, it was me! And _I'm _the insane one! Hah!"

Cloud smirked. "Well, at least you admit it…"

"Cloud!" Jenova fell off of the couch, leaping instantly back to her feet. She threw the book she had been reading off to one side, where it, somehow, disappeared like _she_ always did. She shook her head. "How long have you been awake?!"

Cloud sighed, shaking his head and walking over to get his sword. "Not long; don't worry, I wasn't watching you read your book."

She nodded. "Good."

"Have you been in here all night…?"

She shrugged. "Nah. I was down in the Shinra library for a while – obviously. I read through different documents about myself for a few hours, but it got boring… So, I read this to amuse myself until you woke up."

"It took you multiple hours to get bored…? No offense, but when you get bored of something, you normally get bored quite quickly…"

She smirked slightly. "Well, I was down in the library, by myself. What I was doing for most of that time is of no concern to you. Alright?"

"And is the library still intact…?"

"Yep. I'll admit that I may have been quite angry, but I swear that I didn't hurt any_one_ or any_thing_. At least, I think that I didn't."

"Alright, then." He went to pick up the sack of materia, but noticed something was wrong. He looked around through the different materia, and then glanced up at Jenova. "Did you steal my healing materia…?"

She shook her head, looking slightly annoyed. "No. Why? I don't have any use for it… I can just use my own abilities."

"Well, did you see who _did_?"

"Nope. Sorry. I guess you're just going to have to avoid injuring yourself for a while, if that's at all possible…" She smirked at him. "In other words, just don't tick me off and you should be fine without it."

Cloud rolled his eyes, grabbing the materia he still had left and opening the door to walk out. "Noted. Let's go…"

He was slightly surprised to see that Sephiroth was already out in the hallway, waiting for him. Cloud glanced back at Jenova, who disappeared. Sephiroth nodded at Cloud. "Ready?"

Cloud nodded. "Definitely." They walked downstairs and out of the inn, dropping the keys on the front desk because the clerk wasn't there yet.

"So…" Cloud said as they walked across the town. "Did you sleep well…?" He wasn't really sure what else to say…

Sephiroth smirked slightly. "Surprisingly, yes. You?"

Cloud nodded. "More or less, yeah."

"And that would mean…?"

"Eh… bad dreams, mostly. I didn't fall asleep until quite late, but that's only because I was… deep in thought, I suppose." Well, that _was _the truth… sort of…

"Ah…" Sephiroth looked slightly amused for some reason, but Cloud assumed that it was just because he could tell that Cloud wasn't being entirely honest.

Cloud walked over to Fenrir and turned it on, sighing. He didn't want to leave, but yet he also did. So much had happened here… he didn't really want to stay for much longer.

Cloud looked around at Nibelheim again. This place was so peaceful… even with its terrible past, it was one of the most serene places Cloud knew. Shinra and the Turks seemed to have left, so that just made things even better. The air was so still and crisp, and the sun had just risen above the mountains, which just added to the peaceful feeling.

But, as always, Jenova had her ways of ruining all that was good in life.

"This doesn't even make _sense_!"she yelled, running into the town. She was in the same disguise she had been back in the inn the night before, but nothing else seemed to be wrong. Sephiroth looked just as confused as Cloud was. Then, though, they both saw what she was running from: chasing Jenova was the most random herd of wild chocobos.

Cloud shook his head as he watched them chasing her around the center of the town. "What did you _do_?!" he shouted at her. Sephiroth was just standing there, looking amused. Cloud had to admit that he was quite amused as well.

"I didn't do _anything_!" Jenova shouted back. "They just showed up out of _nowhere! _I _don't get it_!"

Cloud remembered that she had said something about this happening when she had been making sarcastic comments… but… how…?

Well, it didn't matter for long, because the chocobos turned their attention on Cloud after a minute. They all dove for him, and he had to jump out of the way. A few of them kept on trying to pick him up and carry him off – another thing Jenova had said – but they were mainly just running around, just as confused as everyone else.

After a while, the herd dispersed, mostly going back to whatever magical black hole they had come from. A few of them continued to hang around, but they mainly just stood there.

Cloud walked over to Fenrir, where two chocobos were accidentally starting to figure out how to move it forward and turn it around. Cloud wasn't sure _how _or _why _the chocobos were doing that, but he shooed them away all the same. Jenova was smiling slightly, but she was mainly standing passively off to the side now. None of the residents of Nibelheim had come out, so they either were still asleep, or they were used to seeing random things like chocobos swarming the village and learning how to drive motorcycles. Sephiroth was standing nearby, waiting for Cloud, who motioned for him to come over.

Nothing else randomly happened, so Cloud and Sephiroth were able to make it back to Midgar without any more issues. Sephiroth immediately leapt off of Fenrir, obviously still on-edge about something.

Cloud shook his head. "_Are _you alright…?"

"Huh? Me? Yeah; I'm fine. Why…?"

"I don't know… you've just seemed distant, ever since last night…"

He shrugged. "I don't know what you mean. This is just how I normally act…"

"Well, sort of, but- ugh, I guess it doesn't really matter. I need to get going… I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Alright…?"

Cloud nodded, and took off back towards Edge. He didn't really have time to talk… There were far too many things that were much more important right now…

It didn't take long for Cloud to get back to 7th Heaven. He needed to get to the Northern Crater, but he wanted to tell Tifa, just in case he didn't get back that night again.

Cloud noted that Jenova was being quiet. She was normally everywhere lately, but she was nowhere to be seen… Where was she now…?

_**Please, do be quiet. I had completely forgotten about Marlene… she's talking to one of her 'friends' right now, and it may be the Guardian… **_

"Which one…?"

_**The first one she met. Now, **_**shut up. **_**I can't let her know I'm listening…**_

Cloud sighed and walked into 7th Heaven, where Tifa was already buried in work. Cloud rarely saw the bar this crowded… However, that didn't keep Tifa from rushing over to Cloud when she saw him.

"Cloud! Thank goodness… Are you alright?"

He nodded, smiling slightly. He had never even realized how much he had missed her… But he couldn't think about that right now. "Yeah, I'm alright. You?"

She nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit hassled; that's all. Er… do you have anywhere else to go today…?"

"I… yeah." He pulled her over to the side, so that nobody else could hear them. "I've been trying to get Jenova to talk about her past lately, because Vincent found out that something happened between her and Chaos a while ago… something that, if I handle the situation correctly, may cause her to turn on him."

Tifa's eyes widened. "Really?!" She looked around. "Is… is she listening to us right now?"

He shook his head. "No. She's in the bar somewhere, listening to Marlene's conversation. Where _is _Marlene…?"

Tifa nodded over to one booth, where, sure enough, Marlene was talking to somebody. The bar was so crowded that Jenova could have been absolutely anywhere.

Cloud looked at the person Marlene was talking to. She looked fairly normal – brown hair, brown eyes, tall and thin, normal clothing – but Cloud could just simply _feel _that she wasn't human. She seemed depressed about something Marlene was saying… but what? Maybe that _was _the Guardian, and Marlene somehow knew that Jenova was looking for her…

Cloud looked back at Tifa. "Jenova thinks that that person may not be a Cetra, but something called a 'Guardian'," he whispered to her. "I don't really have time to explain, but… there's a chance that Marlene may be in serious danger."

Tifa looked up at him, the worry obvious in her eyes. "Why…? 'Guardian' doesn't sound like something or someone that would be evil…"

Cloud nodded. "I thought so, too. But Jenova said that this is the one Guardian that has become corrupt. And Jenova wants to kill her, if she can't make things right."

"But… if this Guardian 'makes things right', wouldn't _that _make them enemies? Shouldn't they be allies if she's corrupt?"

"No. The Guardian apparently hates Chaos now because of something he did to her as well."

Tifa smirked. "Chaos isn't very nice to any of his female allies, is he…?"

"Heh, I guess not. But that may work to our advantage…" He sighed, shaking his head. "I need to get going. I'm taking Jenova back to Icicle Inn, so I'm sorry if I don't make it back tonight. But I promise that I'll try my best."

Tifa nodded. "Alright. I understand. If you're bringing Jenova with you, though, you should probably take the truck. So that you can keep an eye on her."

Cloud shrugged. "Alright. Thanks for being so understanding, Tifa. I'll see you later, alright?"

She nodded, smiling gently at him. "Of course. See you later, then."

Cloud smiled at her, and then turned around and walked away. He noticed that Marlene's 'friend', Guardian or not, had left just as he was about to. So he walked up to Marlene. She looked up at him. "Oh, hey Cloud…"

"Is something wrong…?"

She shook her head, smiling at him and obviously feigning happiness. "No! Of course not! Everything's perfectly alright. Why do you ask?"

He paused, deciding to take a huge risk. "Marlene… Do you know what a Guardian is?"

Marlene shook her head, looking at him innocently. "No, of course not. What's that?"

He smirked. "I just thought that you should know that, should you know what or who it is… Jenova wants to kill her."

All color drained from Marlene's face. "You… you're joking, right?! She's… she's going to do _what_?! She can't _do _that!"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I thought you'd know. Yes, she's going to, if this Guardian 'can't make things right', or something."

Marlene clenched both of her fists, looking away. "Jenova can't kill the Guardian… I won't let her."

Cloud sighed unhappily. "I'll try to figure out more, but… I just thought that you should know about that."

Marlene looked incredibly worried, and Cloud just walked off. Why did Marlene know almost _everything _before he did…? Stranger, though, was that Marlene didn't know that Jenova was trying to kill the Guardian. Cloud still wasn't completely positive that one of Marlene's friends actually _was _the Guardian, but still…

Jenova was already outside, waiting for Cloud. She was in her disguise again, so Cloud wondered if she had been like that the whole time and he just hadn't noticed. She nodded. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Are you coming with, or are you going to teleport?

"Well, if you're taking your truck, then I might as well come with you."

Cloud sighed, having forgotten momentarily that she was telepathic. "Right… Alright, then. Let's go…"

Jenova nodded, transforming herself back into her preferred form and outfit again. Cloud couldn't help but wonder what her original form looked like. After all, it was highly unlikely that this was her true form; she may have been from another world entirely, but Cloud doubted that there were any planets that had human-looking races with the kinds of powers she possessed…

Cloud made sure to take his sword and materia with him, which he put into the truck-bed, just in case Jenova lost it again. He wanted to be prepared, should she try to kill him…

The entire drive was quite boring in itself. Jenova summoned her book again, which she spent the entire time reading over and over – it seemed to be a rather short book. Cloud never got to see what the book actually _was_, but Jenova kept on making random comments about it as though she was actually in the story. Cloud just decided to ignore her after a while.

After what was only a few hours but seemed like an eternity, Cloud finally pulled to a stop just outside of Icicle Inn. Jenova looked up. "Oh, well, that was fast."

"For you, maybe…" Cloud sighed, getting out of the truck. Jenova was soon standing next to him, looking around.

"Remind me why we're here again…?"

Cloud shrugged. "I feel like there's something here to find. Perhaps we should look for the Black Materia."

"You really think that that's safe with me here…?"

"I'll take my chances, if it can give me and my friends any more of a chance at winning…"

"I don't see how it could actually help you, but… alright…"

Cloud picked up his sword and started towards the Northern Crater, with Jenova following closely. She showed him how to get through the snow without the need to snowboard, which helped. Why was she being helpful…?

Near the Northern Crater, Jenova stopped, kneeling down. "Hey, Cloud, you dropped your phone…"

He looked back at her. "Oh, I didn't notice…"

"Well, I did…" she said, picking up his phone and looking at it. She glanced at the nearby Northern Crater, and then back at the phone. "Hey… The Lifestream affects the area right around here, right?"

Cloud paused, confused as to why she cared. "Yeah…? Why?"

She smiled slightly, staring down at his phone and making a few slight movements with her hand. She grinned. "Hah! Internet! I don't know why I didn't think of this before!"

Cloud shook his head. "Mind explaining…?"

"No time. Lifestream, different worlds, internet, blah blah blah." After a moment's pause, her grin widened. "Yes! Yes yes _yes_!"

"What…?" Cloud asked warily.

"They _updated_!"

"Again… what?!"

"Oh, you wouldn't get it. But I'm going to be borrowing this for a few minutes, alright?"

Cloud shrugged. "Whatever…" he said, starting to walk again. He wondered when he would be safe to bring up her past, which was the main reason he had come here…

After a few more minutes of walking and of Jenova making random comments, she finally handed Cloud his phone back. They walked on in silence for a few minutes, before things finally started to get interesting again…

"Hey… We're getting pretty close…" Jenova muttered, looking around. "Are you sure you want to- ow!" Out of the corner of his eye, Cloud saw Jenova fall to the ground. She muttered a few curses before looking around. "What…?"

Cloud turned around to face her. "What happened…?"

"I stepped on something…" she muttered unhappily, digging around in the snow. Cloud had all but forgotten that she didn't wear shoes; she had her jumpsuit, which normally worked just as well as it covered nearly her entire body. But what could she have stepped on out here…? A rock or something…?

After a moment, Jenova found something. Her entire expression changed as she stared at whatever it was. She picked it up with both of her hands, staring at it. Cloud realized that it was a strangely-colored shard of glass. And a fairly large shard, too. But why…?

Then, Cloud remembered how his dream had had something to do with glass. But why was there glass all the way out here…?

Jenova just simply stared at her transparent reflection in the glass for a few moments, being absolutely silent. Cloud noticed something odd, then; his reflection showed up in it as well, but very faintly. Jenova's reflection, however, was as it should have been. How strange...

After a while, Jenova let go of the glass with one hand and traced a symbol over her chest. Cloud didn't see what it was, and he doubted that she'd tell him.

"How…?" Jenova whispered, dropping the glass. She put both of her hands on it and looked down at it, staring at her refection that still somehow showed up, even when it should have only showed the snow beneath. "I shouldn't be… It shouldn't show me anymore… And why is it even out here…?! It should have been in the center of…" She looked up at the Northern Crater, shaking her head.

"Um… Can I ask what's going on…?" Cloud asked, taking a huge risk. Jenova didn't even look up at him. She just looked back down at the glass. Cloud didn't think she would answer him, so he was surprised when she did.

"This… This is a part of what used to be here… Before I destroyed it, two-thousand years ago. This used to be at the epicenter of what is now the Northern Crater. It used to… it used to…" She shook her head. "I didn't destroy it on purpose… I didn't mean to… But I needed something to pull me in…" Cloud was slightly worried that she was going to break down mentally again, but she just seemed depressed. She smirked, though. "Cloud… why did we _really _come here?"

Cloud sighed. "Well… last night, I had an odd dream… It wasn't really a dream, I guess; more like a series of vague feelings. But I knew that it had something to do with the Northern Crater. I also knew that it had something to do with glass, and… some odd words, I believe. Vitrum… um… Vitrum…"

"Vitrum Sylva," she finished for him, and he nodded, realizing that she was right.

"Yeah, I think so. Does that mean anything to you…?"

She sighed. "Cloud… You know about the crystal forest that surrounds the City of the Ancients, right?"

"Yes, I do. I fought the Sephiroth Remnants there, remember?"

"Of course I do. Well… there was originally another forest, similar to that one. Both had significant spiritual meaning. The only difference between them was that, while the one that still stands is a living forest of crystal, this one was a living forest of glass. It's where the Guardian of this world first woke, and I… I destroyed it, which is yet another reason why she hates me. I thought that it was gone forever, but… well, it seems that there was still a piece left over… The most important piece."

"And so… what does it have to do with whether or not you can see your reflection…?"

"Oh, that's… a long story. One that I don't feel like telling. But… basically, because of what I did to this Planet, I should no longer be able to see my reflection. But yet, I can…" She shook her head unhappily. "Why?!" she demanded, aiming her question at nobody in particular.

Cloud thought for a moment. "Well… maybe the Planet is giving you a chance for redemption?"

"Heh, doubtful. No, not doubtful. _Impossible. _The Planet may be forgiving, but it's not stupid. And neither is Minerva. Neither would trust me… And I don't want them to. I'm your enemy, alright? I'm everyone's enemy… I couldn't care less about 'redemption'; I'm fine with what happened, and I'm going to continue on like this. Which is why I don't understand…"

She sighed unhappily, though, standing up and leaving the glass. "Ah, never mind… We should be getting back."

Cloud sighed unhappily, but he simply nodded in agreement. It was obviously getting late, and Cloud wanted to be back in Edge by tonight. Plus, he didn't really want to push her any farther…

Jenova nodded and started back the way they had come. Cloud turned around to look at the Northern Crater again. He still didn't understand so much, but yet at least he was _starting _to get a part of what was going on…

"Ugh!" Cloud heard Jenova hit the ground again. He turned around to face her and, sure enough, she was on her hands and knees again. What had happened this time…?

"What now?! The glass is over there!" She sat back and glared at Cloud. "Did _you _trip me?!"

Cloud shook his head, startled. "No, of course not. I'm over here. I haven't moved, as can be proved by my footsteps in the snow… Why? You think someone tripped you…?"

"Yes. There's a different feeling for when someone trips you, and when you trip over an inanimate object. Someone tripped me… But… there's nobody else out here…?"

Jenova looked around, obviously just as confused as Cloud was.

"Ugh… look down already…"

Cloud jumped upon hearing a voice that wasn't his or Jenova's. She looked at him, obviously annoyed. "What's wrong…?"

"Did you just hear someone talking…?"

"Yes. Me."

"No… it was a man… But, it wasn't me. And… there's nobody else out here…"

She paused, obviously going into thought. "Hmm… Well, the Lifestream flows around here, as we've established… perhaps it was some sort of spirit…? The Lifestream _has _beenweird lately…"

"Yeah, maybe, but… no, because how could I hear them? And yet you couldn't?"

"Well, I probably couldn't because the Lifestream hates me. But, as for you… perhaps they have something to do with you…? What did they sound like? And what did they say?"

Cloud shrugged. "Sound like…? Well, a guy… he sounded kind of young, as in… maybe his early twenties…? I don't know, really… He sounded slightly annoyed, and was saying to 'look down already'… I think he was trying to talk to you."

Jenova shrugged, looking down at the imprint of where the shard of glass had been until she had moved it about a foot away. There didn't seem to be anything else there, though…

Jenova sighed, feeling around the snow for anything solid. Cloud couldn't help but wonder if she was getting cold, like he was… but, he wasn't about to say that…

After a moment, Jenova paused, seeming to have found something. She brushed away the snow, looking down at whatever it was. Cloud couldn't see it, because she was in the way, but whatever it was stopped her even more than the shard of glass had. She just simply froze, the strangest look of despair and confusion evident in her eyes.

"What… how…? It was… the shard was protecting it from harm…" She looked around. "You did this, didn't you…? You found it, and you somehow moved that surviving shard here to protect it until I found it… That was you speaking, wasn't it…?"

Cloud could tell that she wasn't talking to him. But… who…? Did she realize there was nobody else out here…? Oh, great… had she gone insane again…?

Jenova picked up the artifact she had found in the snow, brushing it off and holding it in the palm of her hand. Cloud couldn't see the whole thing, but he could tell that it was some sort of amulet since the small black rope was visible to him.

Jenova smiled slightly. "Thank you. But why… why can Cloud hear you, and I can't…?"

Cloud didn't hear anyone respond, and it was obvious that Jenova didn't either. She sighed unhappily, standing up and tying the amulet around her neck. She hid it underneath her outfit before Cloud could see it well, but whatever it was, it seemed to be made of the same material as the nearby shard of glass. When had she gotten that…? Cloud couldn't help it, and let his curiosity get the better of him.

"So… is that important?"

Jenova answered almost immediately, which admittedly surprised Cloud. "Yes, it is. To me, at least. It's a reminder of the past… Of the part of the past, at least, that didn't include constant war."

"And… did you make it yourself?"

Jenova shook her head. "No. A friend of mine made it for me, a long time ago… He said it would protect me, and I suppose it has, even when I'm not wearing it. I… _lost_ it, and I never thought I would see it again. But…" She had an odd look in her eyes when she said that she had 'lost' it…

Cloud paused, glancing at her. "And by 'friend', do you mean…?" he asked, suddenly finding himself wondering if she had ever had a lover or anything like that. He wasn't sure why – or that – he even _cared, _but…

She glanced at him, slightly startled – which, of course, meant that she had heard his thoughts. "Oh, no, no, we were just friends! Honestly," she said, shaking her head. "Besides, he went on to have a wife and a kid. Before he, you know, _died_ and everything…" She sighed unhappily, looking away, the look of despair back in her eyes.

"So… you _didn't _love him…?"

"Awww, Cloud, that's so cute! You think I can feel emotions other than hatred!" she said, grinning over at him. Cloud was all but certain that she had at least somewhat pulled into her insanity again.

"Aaaand, the moment's gone…" he muttered.

She smirked, an odd look in her eyes. "I was just making a point. I don't 'love' anyone; never have, never will. I don't feel emotions like normal people do, which is kind of the reason I ended up like this. I can't feel anything; I just feel the cold. You can tell me I'm frozen; what can I do? I can't tell you the reason for it. It's just who I am." She nodded when Cloud didn't respond. "So, are we going to leave now or not?"

"…Okay… But… were you _ever _human…?"

"Er… no… Cloud, if I'm not human now, then, genetically speaking, there's no way I ever was…"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean your _race_. I _meant… _did you _ever _feel emotions…?"

"…No. Never. Just hatred for everyone around me. Didn't I tell you that I came from a world of evil? Completely the opposite of this nicey-nice one I'm forced to exist in at the moment until I find a way to destroy it?"

"Well, yeah, but I was just wondering- oh, never mind… You're impossible to talk to…" _Huh… _Cloud silently thought, _if she thinks _this _world is 'nicey-nice' or whatever… I don't _ever _want to visit _her_ world…_

"No, I'm not. I'm just simply impossible," she said, grinning back at him again, apparently ignoring his thoughts. She then started back towards Icicle Inn without another word.

Cloud rolled his eyes, following her until they got back. They both climbed into the truck, and Cloud turned it on. He stared out of the window at the falling snow. He didn't realize how long he had just simply been staring until Jenova made a comment about it.

"Sheesh… you humans sure are amused quite easily…"

Cloud rolled his eyes, turning on the windshield-wipers, since the snow had gathered on the front of the truck and would have made it impossible to drive. Jenova, making herself a hypocrite, got distracted by them, moving her head back and forth with the movement. Cloud smirked slightly.

"Yeah, _we're _the ones who are amused easily…"

She glared at him. "Shut up…" She summoned her book and went back to reading, apparently having nothing better to do.

Cloud sighed unhappily, starting back to Edge as quickly as he could. Why did he feel like everything that had happened today was some sort of catalyst…? He could only guess about what would soon be coming…


	26. A Locked Heart

**-Disclaimer- I don't own anything except for myself. At least, I **_**hope **_**I own myself… **

**A/N: Hello all again! Okay, so, question answering Time… Guest, if your question was legitimate and not just rhetorical… well, you'll find out in this chapter. Carly Strife… Hey, you're right! I completely forgot about Denzel! Thanks for reminding me about him! He doesn't really have too much of a part until the very end (at least, nothing that I've come up with), and so I guess I kind of forgot about him… So, thanks for reminding me! I'll thread him back into the story… Okay, so, as to the story itself… This chapter is mainly a bit of CloTi and some hinted Marlene/Denzel (although, I don't write young couples, so if I put them together, it won't be for a while), as well as some possible hinted past Jenova/OC, but only because I find it fun to play around with her. I don't know if I'll do anything with them, since she doesn't really seem like the type to love someone. But we'll see… It's really up to you guys. I know it's my fanfic, but I'm writing it for you guys, so… Okay! *Grabs popcorn* Alrighty, let's start…**

* * *

_**A Locked Heart**_

Tifa woke up early in the morning, as always. Cloud had returned just as Tifa had closed her eyes to fall asleep the night before, and she had pretended to already be asleep. He had seemed exhausted, and Tifa hadn't wanted to bother him.

Tifa sighed, slipping on her outfit for the day. She normally slept with it on, but it had been quite cold last night, and so she had slipped into something warmer. Actually, now that Tifa was thinking about it, it was _still _cold. She turned the heater on in the room, but it didn't do much. She could see that there were more clouds in the sky than there normally were; ever since about two days ago, the sky had been getting much cloudier. Now, Tifa could barely see the sun. At least the clouds were white, which meant that there probably wasn't going to be a storm…

Speaking of clouds…

Tifa looked over at Cloud, who was still obviously deeply asleep. He normally woke up not long after her, but today seemed to be different. Whatever had happened over the last few days had certainly drained his energy… Tifa hoped that he would be alright…

Tifa looked around the room, knowing that Jenova was probably watching from wherever she spent her time. "I know that you're listening… Where are you? We need to talk…" She wanted to let Jenova know that she would protect Cloud no matter what…

Tifa wasn't surprised when nobody responded. It wasn't like Jenova could actually be _in _the _room._ Tifa would have seen her… right? But Jenova had to have been watching as Cloud said she always was… It was a bit of a disturbing thought, honestly… Tifa wondered if Jenova ever slept at all; if so, perhaps Tifa could find out when, so that she would be able to have even a moment where she didn't feel like she was constantly being stalked…

Tifa sighed, going downstairs to open for the day. Marlene was already downstairs, sitting by herself. There was nothing new there. Tifa realized for the first time that Marlene hadn't been hanging out with Denzel lately… In fact, Tifa realized that Denzel actually seemed to have been avoiding Marlene lately. Was Marlene pushing him away…? She seemed to be pushing everyone away lately…

Marlene looked up at Tifa. "Oh, good morning."

Tifa smiled at her. "Good morning, Marlene. Why are you up so early?"

"I'm always up early…" she muttered, shrugging. But she smiled at Tifa. "Actually, I just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. So I've been sitting down here by myself… doing nothing… Yep, nothing… Not talking to anyone…" She grinned disarmingly at Tifa, who smirked.

"Good to know… Just wondering, should I be at all worried? Will the WRO be knocking on the door anytime soon?"

"Nope. You're fine."

"Heh, good." Tifa looked around. "Is Denzel still asleep…?"

"Uh, I think so… He should be down soon, though… You know, I think he's avoiding me lately…"

"Do you know why…?"

"No, I don't… Do you think I did something wrong…?" She honestly sounded worried that she had somehow pushed her friend away.

Tifa shook her head. "Nothing that I can think of. You should talk to him and see what's wrong, when he comes down later."

"Oh, right…"

Tifa nodded, walking over to the front door and unlocking it, turning the sign to 'open'. "You guys used to be such good friends… I don't think there's much that can really drive you two apart. So, I assume he has his reasons for being distant…"

Marlene nodded. "Right. Thanks, Tifa…"

Tifa smiled at her, pacing around. It wasn't long before the entire bar was filled with people. It had always been so crowded lately… Luckily, Tifa had bought so many new tables and chairs… She almost missed when it had just been a few regulars that she could talk to about almost anything. Now, it was mostly people she had never seen before.

There was one person who caught Tifa's attention a bit more than the others, though. She was taller than Tifa, and she was quite thin and fit. Her skin was pale, but not unnaturally pale, like Tifa had gotten used to seeing with people that were at all important anymore. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a tight black tank-top; long, tight jeans that were so dark blue that Tifa actually counted them as black; and black leather short-heeled boots that came close to her knees. Despite her outfit, she didn't appear even slightly Goth or anything like that. She was sitting by herself at a booth next to Marlene – in fact, she was nearly sitting back-to-back with Marlene – reading a book.

Denzel came downstairs, looking exhausted. Marlene didn't go over to him immediately, instead seeming to be deep in thought about something. Tifa sighed, assuming that that was probably the reason Denzel was being distant lately… He probably felt left out.

Then, Tifa realized something: Cloud still wasn't awake. Or, at least, he wasn't downstairs yet. He never slept in so late…

Tifa sighed, looking around the bar. Marlene was talking to herself – or, at least, she appeared to be – while Denzel was helping out with the customers. A lot of the people here today seemed to be mainly there to get a drink and talk, so Tifa didn't have much to do. After a while, there was nothing to do at all. Tifa kept on glancing at the stairs, waiting for Cloud to come down. Was he seriously still asleep…? What had happened over the past few days…?

"Hey, are you alright? You seem worried about someone…"

Tifa jumped at the voice from behind her, turning around to look at the woman sitting at the bar. It was the woman that had caught her eye earlier.

Tifa smiled at her. "Oh, no, everything's fine. My friend is just sleeping in a lot later than he normally does…"

"He must have had a rough day yesterday then, huh?"

Tifa shrugged. "I'm not really certain myself… He was out all day. …Running his delivery service." She couldn't exactly tell this woman what Cloud had _really _been doing.

"Ah. Which would make sense, then. Work like that must be tiring. You're soooo lucky to have a friend brave enough to do things like that…"

Tifa smiled gently. "Yeah, I suppose I am…" She paused. "Oh, um, I'm sorry. Here I am, talking about my life, and I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Tifa. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Jen-… Ack, sorry, I don't know why I paused. I'm Jenna."

"Well, it's nice to meet you."

"So… you and your friend live under the same roof…?" She smiled at her. "Are you two dating…?"

Tifa blushed. "Oh, no, no, we're just friends! Honestly!"

"…Great, now _I _look like a liar…"

"Huh…?"

"Oh, uh… never mind. I've just been asked a similar question, and given a similar response. But _I_ wasn't lying. Technically." She randomly hit herself in the head. "No, no, no, no," she said, hitting herself after every word. She sighed unhappily. "Ugh… Never mind. I _wasn't _lying. You, however… You like him, don't you?"

"Wh-what?!" Tifa asked, turning away because she was blushing so much. How could someone she'd never even met know what she truly felt on the inside…?

"Heh, it's quite obvious, you see. I'm good at reading people, or so I've been told. It's, like, some sort of talent of mine, or something."

Tifa turned around, looking at Jenna. "I…" She noticed that Marlene was on high-alert all of a sudden, watching the two of them with mixed emotions showing on her face. But she didn't seem worried enough to actually jump into Tifa and Jenna's conversation, so Tifa decided that she wasn't in any danger. "I don't really know _how_ I feel…"

"I _think_ he likes you too, you know…"

Tifa froze, staring at her. "Wait… what?! How could you possibly know that…?"

"Ah, I come here all the time. I've seen him before. I can tell, just by the way he looks at you… Plus, I'd probably be able to tell…"

Tifa smirked. "Oh? How so?"

Jenna jumped, obviously having been thinking out loud on accident. "… Never mind. That's the past… Besides, it didn't happen as you're th- uh, _probably _thinking. _Anyways_, back to you… I'm right, aren't I? That he probably likes you?"

Tifa shook her head, sighing unhappily. "It… it doesn't matter. Even if that were true – which I slightly doubt – I'd rather he make the first move. If he _doesn't _feel the same way, I don't really want to bring it up… He has far too much on his mind lately. We all do…"

Tifa tried to think about something else. So, instead of thinking about Cloud, she noticed for the first time that Jenna was wearing an odd necklace. She had noticed it at first, but hadn't really paid it any attention. The pendant seemed to be made of some sort of crystal. Had it not been colored so strangely, Tifa would have sworn that it was actually glass. It was cut in the shape of an octagon, and had an infinity symbol beautifully etched into it. Strung through the top of the pendant was a small rope that was midnight-black. It contrasted with the pendant, and yet somehow worked perfectly with it. There was just something about the entire necklace that seemed… well, actually, not necessarily _odd… _in fact, it seemed almost enchanting. Tifa assumed that it probably _was _enchanted, actually.

Jenna noticed that Tifa had seen her necklace, and she smiled slightly. Tifa glanced at her. "If I may ask… where did you get that…? It's absolutely beautiful…"

Jenna shrugged, seeming to go off into a memory. "Oh… a friend made it for me. That was… a while ago, let's just say."

"Ah. A friend…?"

"Yeah, why…? Oh, no, not back to that…" She glanced sideways.

"Hey, um…" Marlene said, suddenly next to them. "What's going on, guys? Uh, sorry, I'm just a bit bored… Anything I can help with?"

Jenna smiled at her, and Marlene smirked. Tifa shook her head. "Why don't you go find out what's wrong with Denzel?"

"Oh, uh, right…" Marlene glanced over at Denzel. Both she and Tifa were surprised to see that he was watching them carefully. He looked away as soon as he realized they had seen him, though.

Marlene paused, glancing at Jenna. "Wait… why is he acting like that…? _I _act like that. And I have a reason… Does he…?"

Jenna looked just as confused as Tifa was. Why did Marlene think that Jenna would know something about Denzel…? Even if she had been here before and knew who they all were, she wouldn't know much about any of them… right?

Denzel seemed to notice that they were all paying attention to him. He quickly went back to helping customers. But, after a minute, he had to walk by Jenna, Marlene, and Tifa.

"Denzel!" Marlene quickly said, running over to him. He jumped, glancing from Jenna to Marlene.

"Y-yes…?"

"Is there something I should know…?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do. Right? You know s_omething _about something, and you'd better tell me now. Got it?!"

Denzel ran behind Tifa. "Listen, I don't know _what's _going on, but you're freaking me out. So, please, back off?"

Marlene sighed and dropped her head unhappily. "Fine… sorry…"

Denzel didn't say anything, and Jenna jumped into the conversation. "Oh, come _on_, you two. I may not know much about friendships, but you two obviously are great together, right? I can tell that you both still want to be friends. So come on. Why don't you tell each other what's going on?"

Marlene paused, and then sighed again, shaking her head. "I'm sorry for freaking you out, Denzel. I guess I'm just trying to protect everyone, and I feel like I need to know everything to do that…" She glanced at Jenna. "And, uh, 'protect everyone' is just a, um… figurative term. I'm just eleven. I can't protect anyone, really… How would I?"

Jenna smiled at her. "Oh, I bet you could do anything you set your mind to. Anyone can, really."

Denzel sighed, looking at both of them. "Yeah, I understand. And I'm sorry I've been distant… I guess you just seem like you need space lately. So I've been trying to give you some."

Jenna smiled again. "Aw, you guys are so cute! You'll be friends for, like, _ever_!" Marlene and Denzel both smiled slightly, and Jenna turned back to Tifa. "Now, about _your _friend…"

"Er… Hey, guys… What's going on here?" Tifa turned around to see Cloud walking up to them. Why did he _always _come in whenever someone was talking about him…? Tifa noticed by the side of her eye that Jenna slid the pendant of her necklace underneath her shirt. Tifa didn't find it _too _strange, but she still made a mental note of the movement.

Jenna smiled at Cloud, twirling around in her seat to face him. "Oh, helloooooo. You must be Tifer- _Tifa_'s 'friend'. Ack, I'm messing up my words today!" Marlene was looking slightly amused and concerned at the same time. What for…?

Cloud nodded, glancing at Jenna's eyes and then looking relieved. Why…? Well, it didn't really matter. Cloud seemed to think everything was alright, which meant that it probably was. "Yeah, I'm Tifa's friend… May I ask who you are?"

"Oh! Of course! My name is Jenna. I just kind of sort of started up a conversation with Tifa here a few minutes ago, and we were talking until you came down."

"Jenna…? Okay, then. So… mind if I ask what you were talking about?"

Tifa paused. "Oh, it was nothing. Just really about… the weather, and stuff. How it's been so weird lately…"

Jenna smirked. "Yep. That's exactly it."

"Yeah, as I was saying, why do you think that is?"

Jenna paused, appearing to think deeply on the matter, even though Tifa doubted she cared. Even Tifa didn't, really. Jenna smiled slightly. "Well, if you want my _real _opinion…" She held her hands out in front of her slightly, as if trying to show them something. Or maybe she was pretending to hold something. Tifa wasn't really sure. "I'm not saying it's aliens but, it's aliens." She grinned. Even more so when Tifa gave her a questioning look. She laughed, playfully pushing Tifa's shoulder. "I'm _joking_! You didn't think I was _serious_, did you? Wouldn't _that _be weird, if there were actual _aliens _on the Planet?! Of course, maybe there are, with that weird sun/meteor-thingy that destroyed Midgar a few years ago. Now _that _was crazy. And even though there were multiple theories, there really never _was _a definite explanation for it, right? At least, not that_ I_ heard. Therefore, aliens. You _know _I'm right. Wouldn't that be _so cool_?!"

Cloud smirked. "Uh, maybe, but maybe not."

"Awww, you're no fun!"

"You seriously think aliens are affecting the weather…?" Tifa asked. Although, Jenna was probably right, in reality. But she couldn't know that… she wasn't a part of this, after all.

Jenna sighed, though, a sudden look of realization flashing across her eyes as she folded her hands in her lap. But her eyes quickly acquired the mischievous look in them again. "_Or, _maybe, since you guys _obviously _don't believe it's aliens, what _if _the Planet is, like, reacting to someone. Or even some_thing_. That sounds about right, right? Because the Planet's, like, alive or something, correct?"

Cloud nodded. "Oh, uh, right. Yeah. Huh… I never thought of it like that. I wonder if it _is _reacting to someone or something. But… who or what?"

Tifa glanced cautiously at Cloud. They both knew that answer; it was obviously something having to do with the inevitable war and possible death of the Planet and everyone on it. But they couldn't exactly tell that to Jenna… Or Marlene and Denzel, for that matter. Marlene knew a lot, but did she know how dangerous the situation _truly _was…?

Marlene jumped into the conversation right then, actually. "Yeah, I wonder. That _would _make sense, wouldn't it? If it were reacting to somebody's emotions. But they'd probably be pretty depressed about something, and I can't think of anyone like that. Right, Jenna? Can you? Especially if they-" She stopped, realizing that Cloud, Tifa, and Denzel were all staring at her.

"Yeah?" Jenna asked. "What were you going to say? C'mon, we can know. Right?"

"Well… It's just that… um… Oh, never mind. But you know what I mean, right?"

"I'm sorry, but I honestly don't. You're trying to hint at something that I don't know about, so I apologize about that." She sighed, shaking her head unhappily and standing up. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. It's starting to rain, and I should be leaving about now."

Cloud shook his head. "If it's raining, you should probably stay here until it stops. You don't want to get wet, do you?"

"Ah, I don't really care about a little rain. I have places to go, people to see, and all of that stuff."

Marlene looked at her cautiously. "Will we see you later?"

"Huh? Well, I'd _assume _so. Why?"

"You know why…"

"No. Again I say: I don't know what you're talking about! You're keeping me out! Of, uh, the loop, so to say. You know?"

Cloud glanced at Marlene. "If she says she doesn't know what you're talking about, then she doesn't. Just let it go, alright?"

Marlene walked over to Jenna. "But… You're… Are you really thinking about it?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "About _what_?"

Marlene seemed to be trying to figure out how to ask Jenna something without the others overhearing, but Tifa wasn't necessarily certain why. Finally, Marlene whispered something to Jenna as quickly as she possibly could, pulling back just as fast.

Jenna paused, but kept a straight face. Tifa wasn't sure whether she was having to fake her expression, or if whatever Marlene had said wasn't at all important. "Oh, that! I was worried it was something bad! Yeah, I am. Why do you ask? The way you were talking, I was thinking it was something that might kill me, you know?"

Marlene just kind of stared out her. "Seriously…? You're… really going to?"

"What, you don't want me to?! I'm quite surprised, honestly!"

"You… you… What?! You're… you're…"

"_Yes, _I am, alright? Sheesh, stop talking like that! You're making it sound like I'm planning on suicide or, like, _murder_! Or something even _worse_! Honestly! Don't talk so cryptically unless it's something that actually deserves such a dark tone like that!"

Marlene sighed, but nodded. "Interesting wording… Well, you're right. Sorry. I didn't mean to sound so cryptic, but… Can't I do something?"

She thought. "Hmmm… no, not really… I need to do this, preferably by myself."

"That's… not what I meant…"

"Oh? I assumed, but, you know, I couldn't be sure. I can't, like, read your _mind _or anything! I _wish _that I could…"

Marlene smirked. "Well, it's too bad that you can't. Even if you could, I wouldn't let you. That'd be invasive, right? We all have our own secrets that we'd rather keep to ourselves."

"Hmph. Well, I suppose you're right. We all do, indeed, have things that we'd rather others don't know. Anywayyyyys, I should get going. It's been great talking to you all! Expect to see me again soon!" She then walked out of 7th Heaven without another word.

Cloud glanced at Marlene. "What was all of _that _about…?"

"Oh, I've run into her out in the city before, and we've gotten to slightly know each other. She told me a few things and, thanks to some new information I've found out recently, I put them together. Don't worry, though; I _promise _that it's nothing that'll hurt you."

"…Good to know. But… She's human, right?"

"Huh? Yeah, why?"

"Sorry, just making sure…"

She smirked. "Don't worry, Cloud. You figure out the main things in life, and I'll take care of everything else."

Cloud smirked. "Well, that's great…"

Marlene smiled at him, and then took Denzel to go help customers.

Cloud sighed unhappily. "I don't want Marlene to be so involved in this… I don't want her to get hurt…"

Tifa shook her head. "Don't worry, Cloud. Marlene's a tough girl; she can more than handle herself. Especially with the help of her… friends. If she said that Jenna is a human, then she is. Marlene told us about the Cetra, and, after a bit of time, she came clean about everything else, right? She's not lying about anything to us anymore, so why would she lie about this? Whatever they're doing isn't going to kill anybody, alright?"

"I know you're right… It's just that I don't want Marlene to get involved with Jenova at all. And I feel like, the more she figures things out, the more interest Jenova will take in her. And remember that Jenova can imitate others, so I don't want her to fool Marlene…"

"Yeah… Are you sure that that _wasn't _Jenova?"

"Yeah, I'm fairly certain. First off, I've never seen Jenova change her eye color, for some reason. Second… Well, trust me. We would have known. Jenova can't keep up an act for more than a sentence. You would have known if it was her, and I _definitely _would have. She may be good at imitating physical forms, but she is _not _good at completely changing her attitude. She hates not being able to taunt us and throw a bunch of incredibly random comments out there. And Jenna didn't do either of those things once."

"Alright, that's good to know. Now… You're going to be staying here today, right?"

"Yeah. Do you mind if I help out?"

Tifa smiled at him. "I don't mind at all."

But as Tifa went to go back to work, she couldn't help but wonder… Where had Jenna been in such a rush to go…?


	27. In the Dark

**A/N: Oh, I forgot to say… Sorry that these two chapters are so late. They were delayed for three reasons: 1(which only took about two days of my Time): Sorry, but I **_**had **_**to get my Cloud Serpent. Hehe... And do dailies with a **_**Cloud **_**Serpent master **_**Jenova**_**… Well played, Blizzard. Well played… Apparently, Jenova's new form is a panda. Perfectly normal. 2: Serious. Writer's. Block. And 3: I don't really want to write too much until I know how the story is going to end. So that I don't mess things up. I still need to figure out who's going to die, who's going to come back to life permanently, who's going to end up good and evil, etc. I'm open to most ideas, if anyone has a suggestion. Also, I went back over DoC, and I smoothed out my storyline at least slightly so that it'll be more canon. I'm sorry beforehand if any details I reveal soon contrast even slightly with anything I've said before. And, one last thing, about this chapter: Just because I'm introducing a new identity-unknown character doesn't mean that this story is going to be incredibly long, so don't worry about that. If you haven't figured out his identity by yourself, it'll be revealed pretty quickly. Ok, onwards to the story!**

* * *

_**In the Dark**_

"Yuffie?"

Yuffie cried out, falling off of the rock she had been laying on. She had hoped that nobody would see her slacking off, but _no. _Somebody _had _to ruin her nap…

Yuffie, Vincent, and a handful of WRO soldiers were investigating a bunch of random caverns somewhat near Midgar and Edge. They were nothing special; just, well, about ten caves on either side of a mountain pathway. Reeve sure seemed obsessed with caves lately…

Yuffie shook her head, standing up and smiling innocently at the WRO soldier in front of her. "Oh! I seem to have nearly fallen asleep! I was so tired, and meant to just sit down for a moment, but no! Oh, cruel gods of sleep, why must you curse me like this?!"

The soldier smirked. "Uh… right. Sure."

Yuffie noticed that this was the same soldier who had found Cloud back when they had been investigating the cavern near the Deepground lair. Had she even come with them on this mission…? Well, apparently so, otherwise she wouldn't be here now. Right?

Yuffie shook her head. "Er, can I ask why you're wearing sunglasses? It's kind of… raining…"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I almost always do."

"Alright? Ugh… Normally I like the rain, but when the clouds make everything so dark, I just hate it…"

"Huh? Why?"

Yuffie jumped, realizing that she had basically been thinking out loud. She couldn't exactly tell this soldier about the fact that she had figured out that Jenova, an evil alien, was stalking her and her friends and was much more powerful in the darkness. No, that probably wouldn't make much sense…

Yuffie shook her head. "Oh, uh… you know. Certain… monsters that we may come across tend to prefer the darkness and the shadows." Well, _that_ had been subtle…

The WRO soldier smiled slightly. "Yes. Yes, they do."

"By the way… what's your name? I'm always seeing you everywhere, but I don't even know your name…"

She paused. "Uh, my name is… Jenae."

"You sure about that?"

Jenae smirked. "Yes, I am."

"Alright then. Uh… where's Vinnie? And the others?"

"Ooh, maybe I can mess with three ships today…"

Yuffie glanced at her, incredibly confused. "What about a ship?"

"Ah, never mind. It doesn't matter. You guys are pretty far apart in ages, anyways. Although, I'm kind of the reason his other girlfriend… uh, disappeared, so…"

Once again, Yuffie was confused. But she was only half paying attention anyways, so… "Uh, right…"

"Anyways, come with me. They're all in different caves, but there's one left that they haven't gone into. So, that's where you and I get to go."

"Oh, okay…"

Yuffie reluctantly followed Jenae into what seemed from the outside to be the smallest of the caves. However, it quickly became much larger on the inside, twisting around and going farther back than any of the others probably did. Yuffie had to admit to herself that she actually wanted to know what was at the end of such a large cave…

Yuffie winced and stopped as soon as they came to the edge of whatever dull light was reaching in from outside. If they continued any farther, they wouldn't be able to see. Not to mention, it would be so dark that if Jenova showed up… well, that wouldn't be good. Jenae looked annoyed that Yuffie had stopped.

"Come on… a little darkness won't hurt."

"You, maybe."

"Exactly!" She paused. "Uh, I only mean that if someone is, uh, down there, or something, we'll be able to surprise them. Come on; nobody will hurt you if you step into the darkness for just a few minutes. Trust me."

"I would, but trust _me _when I say that you don't want to be in complete darkness right now. Don't ask why; just believe me when I say that."

"…But…"

"Seriously. We can't go into the darkness." She thought for a moment. "I wonder if I can keep it going that long…" Yuffie was lucky that she was so smart. Otherwise, she may have forgotten about her materia…

"Keep _what _going…?"

Yuffie held her hand out and focused her energy. In front of her, a small ball of fire appeared, causing Jenae to go slightly insane. She cried out and fell back as though somebody was going to try and kill her.

"Whoa, whoa!" Yuffie said, shaking her head. "What's wrong?! Is there an enemy or something?!"

"Don't you have a light or something?! You _have _to use fire?!"

Yuffie finally started to understand what was going on. "Oh… what's so bad about fire…?"

"Don't ask…" Jenae sighed, standing up but still not going any closer to Yuffie.

Yuffie nodded. "Okay, so I'll try to keep the fire away from you… Ready?"

"Alright…"

Yuffie nodded and started forward. She winced slightly as soon as there was no more natural light, but she knew that the fire would help even slightly if Jenova showed up. Oh, if only Jenova were afraid of fire like Jenae… that would really help at a time like this. But, unfortunately, that was nearly impossible.

Yuffie realized that, in order to stay away from the fire, Jenae was standing in the darkness. That wasn't good… Strangely, she was looking away from Yuffie… why? Did it have something to do with her glasses that she still hadn't taken off…? Ah, it didn't matter. Yuffie had no time to think about it. For all she knew, an enemy could be just up ahead, waiting for her. That was much more important…

Yuffie sighed. _I wonder… are any of the other tunnels this long…?_

"I doubt it…" Jenae answered. Yuffie looked at her. Had she asked her question out loud…? She must have said it when she had thought it… right?

"How so?" Yuffie asked, looking around. "Did you go into the others…?"

"Well, no. But I'm fairly good with geography. Based on how this tunnel isn't straight, if any of the other caverns were as long as this one, we would have run into them by now. And I could tell that the ones on the other side went up instead of down, so they could only be as long as the side of the mountain."

"Oh. I guess I didn't think about that…" She sighed, looking around at the tunnel. It was fairly normal, but… something was off. And, after a moment, Yuffie figured out what it was: there were slashes in the walls. And that could only mean that someone had been fighting here recently. But… who? "Did you notice the walls?"

"What about them…?"

"There are slash marks in them… so someone must have been fighting here. I just hope that they aren't still here…"

Jenae froze in her tracks, causing Yuffie to stop as well. "Are you alright…?"

Jenae turned to look at the walls. She was silent for a moment as she simply stared at them. "Wait, we're…? You… you're right. Someone was fighting here… but I don't think it was very recently."

"Oh, good… How can you tell, though?"

"Mmmm… they marks just have a certain… look?" She sighed. "Just trust me, alright? I'd know…"

"Oh, alright… Any idea who it was?"

After another moment of silence, Jenae spoke quietly. "No. No… I don't know who it was, fighting. Sorry."

"Uh, that's fine. I didn't expect you to. Should we keep going?"

"…Yes." Jenae started forward quickly, and Yuffie had to jog at first to keep up with her brisk pace.

Yuffie sighed unhappily. This tunnel had to be important somehow, but why? What had happened here in the past… and what was happening here now? Assuming there even _was _anything happening, of course. But Yuffie was all but certain that there was indeed something happening here. She couldn't describe it, really, but she just kind of _knew_.

Jenae stopped walking. "Hey, do you hear that…?"

"No… what?" Yuffie asked, turning towards her. Jenae winced away from the fire, but then shook her head. Yuffie noticed that something was off with her eyes… Or, no, her glasses just must have been reflecting the fire strangely, right?

"There's someone talking up ahead…"

Yuffie strained to listen, but she couldn't hear anything or anyone. "Sheesh, you're either imagining things, or you have _really _good hearing…"

"The latter. I can just barely hear someone, but they're there… Wait, that sounds kind of like… No, I must be imagining it…"

Yuffie paused. "Who does it sound like?"

"No time to explain. I doubt that I'm even right. But we should find out…" She started off running, although her footfalls were silent. Well, Yuffie could do that, too. After all, she _was _a ninja. She took off after Jenae. They continued running for a while, until Yuffie could hear someone as well. But she still couldn't make out what they were saying. However, she could tell that it was a man.

Jenae motioned for Yuffie to be quiet. Jenae then listened, apparently able to make out the voices better than Yuffie. Then, Yuffie heard another voice chime in, and Jenae froze. Her entire body became rigid, and she looked like she was about ready to attack someone if the need came. But, she didn't have a weapon on her, so…

"Yuffie… Do you have your weapon?"

Yuffie nodded, pulling out her shuriken. "Yeah. Why?"

"You may need it."

"Why…? Who is that?"

Jenae shook her head. "I don't know for certain if I'm right, but just in case I am – which I normally am – you need to be ready for one hell of a fight. Hopefully, they have another way of getting out, and they won't pass us. But, if not…"

Yuffie nodded. "Alright. I'm ready, if I need to be. What about you, though…?"

"Heh, don't you worry about me. Put out your fire, because I don't want them to see us coming."

Yuffie swallowed hard, but did as she said. The tunnel became so dark that Yuffie couldn't see her own hand being held right in front of her eyes. If Jenova were to attack now, they'd have no chance…

"Ah… that's so much better…" Yuffie heard Jenae say happily. "Alright, Yuffie. Just continue forward. They aren't very far ahead of us."

"But… I can't see anything… What if I, like, run into a wall or something?!"

Yuffie felt Jenae grab her hand. Jenae sighed. "Just follow me, alright?"

"You can see in this?"

"Uh… just barely? Yeah, just barely. But enough."

"Okay…" Yuffie noticed for the first time that Jenae's outfit felt different than it should have. She couldn't really describe it, but it wasn't the cloth outfit that the WRO soldiers normally wore. She still seemed to have the gloves on, but that was it… "Er… Jenae? Did you, like, magically change your outfit or something…?"

"Huh? Oh, uhhh… no. The outfit just… feels different than you probably thought."

"Oh, okay… You're sure?" Yuffie normally didn't believe anything that anyone said without a fight, but right now she was too focused on the darkness around her.

"_Yes, _Yuffie. I'm positive. Sheesh, what, you think I can use magic without materia, like some sort of super-powerful being or something? And I don't even think there _is _materia to change your outfit, so that's out of the question…"

"Heh, yeah… They should invent that. And you're right… I don't know what I thought."

"Alright. Come on, then…" Jenae started forward, and Yuffie blindly followed her, hoping that Jenae wasn't lying about being able to see. After a moment, Jenae stopped, letting go of Yuffie's hand.

"One sec, we're almost there…"

After a moment, Jenae grabbed Yuffie's hand again. Her outfit felt different, now, but Yuffie, for some reason, ignored it. That wasn't what she normally did, but… was it? Then, she found herself not even really remembering what she had been thinking about. What _had _she been thinking about? Well, probably not something very important. So Yuffie just silently followed Jenae forward again.

After a moment, light entered the tunnel again. Yuffie looked around, noticing that the tunnel opened up in several feet. Jenae and Yuffie crouched down behind a boulder near the opening, waiting until somebody spoke again. They didn't have to wait for long, luckily…

"Alright, they haven't gotten here yet, but we cannot wait any longer," a man said. Yuffie didn't recognize the voice, but felt like she should. Jenae smirked, purposefully kicking a small rock against a wall. Yuffie almost murdered her, but thanked Leviathan for helping her to keep calm.

The man didn't say anything for a few seconds, but then cautiously spoke again. "Stand back. Go, if you need to."

"I don't truly deserve your help, do I?" Yuffie froze. She _knew _that voice. Why did she know that voice? She didn't remember hearing it for a long, long time, but she still knew that she knew it…

"It doesn't matter. If you're going to help me, I'm going to help you. Simple as that."

"…I suppose. But I'm staying to help, until you tell me to go."

"…Fine. Do remember, though, that one of the people it may be could kill both of us, if she wanted to. Perhaps not with ease, but she'd still probably win. Because we both know that she'd _love _to kill _us_… She hates me, and her master or whatever hates you."

"Do you think it's her…?"

"Heh, well, there's certainly someone there." Yuffie heard him walking forward, and she tensed up, getting ready to jump out. But Jenae squeezed her arm, silently telling her to wait. Yuffie nodded.

"So?" the man that Yuffie didn't recognize said, closer than he had been. "Who's there? Jenova? Or someone from the WRO? I know that you're both in the area somewhere. I may not be an empath, but my… _friend _here, if you can call him that, can sense auras in the vicinity. So I know that it's one of you. If it's a member of the WRO, leave now. I won't harm you. You aren't my enemy."

Yuffie felt a wave of cold terror wash over her. Jenova was here, somewhere? Not only that, but she was somewhere _nearby_?! For all Yuffie knew, she was hiding in the darkness nearby, simply waiting. And what would Jenae think of all of this? She didn't know who any of these people were. Now, though, she was involved. Great… just great…

Yuffie swallowed hard. She didn't want to die, just yet. If Jenova was here, and she was this person's enemy, then perhaps this person could help Yuffie and Jenae get away if she told him what was going on. She had to get herself and Jenae out of here; Jenova was much more of a main problem than these two men.

Yuffie took a deep breath. "My name is Yuffie Kisaragi, of the WRO. My friend and I mean you no harm; we simply followed orders, and ended up down here. I know about Jenova, as I am good friends with Cloud Strife; I assume you know him?"

After a moment's pause, the man spoke again, sounding relieved. "Yes, I know him. And I know you, Yuffie. How much do you know…?"

Yuffie glanced at Jenae, who sighed unhappily. Yuffie sighed as well. "Er, I have someone here with me…"

"Yes, you said that. That's why I didn't ask _what _you know; I just asked _how much _you know."

"Oh. In that case, I know everything."

"So, you know that someone didn't forget everything…?"

"Yeah, I do. I accidentally overheard a conversation... That's also how I know about Jenova."

"Of course. And do you know where she is?"

"No. I didn't even know she was here. I know she's watching me at times because of how much I know, but… I can never tell where she is."

"Well," said the man that Yuffie _knew _that she knew from somewhere, "she's close. _Very _close. So close that I'm assuming she can hear everything we say. So, I'd advise you and your friend to get out of here. Now."

Yuffie nodded, even though they couldn't see her. "Right. We _want _to, but there's the little issue of Jenova being close. Or did you not just hear yourselves?"

"I don't think she'll attack you; she would have already, had she wanted to," said the person that Yuffie didn't know.

"You really think she'd keep from killing someone, Genesis…?" said the person Yuffie thought she knew. So, the one she didn't know was named Genesis, huh?

"As much as I hate her, I have to admit that she's quite smart. She knows that killing Yuffie would accomplish nothing. Yuffie may even be a part of her plans."

_Oh, great. I'm gonna be some sort of sacrifice now?! _

Yuffie sighed. "Fine, fine, we'll try to make it back… Alright, Genesis and guy-that-I-think-I-know… See you later, I guess…"

Yuffie stood up, taking Jenae with her. Yuffie glanced back at Genesis and his friend. Genesis looked somewhat familiar, but the other person was, unfortunately, standing in the shadows so that Yuffie couldn't see what he looked like.

Genesis glanced at Yuffie, and then at Jenae. He paused. "You're wearing sunglasses inside…?"

She shrugged, not speaking for some reason. Genesis shook his head. "Alright, fine, I won't ask why. Just… go, already, before Jenova follows you guys here. Yuffie, explain everything to her – and I don't necessarily mean _everything,_ if you know what I mean – as she's a part of this, now. Hmm… although, she may already have been…"

Yuffie tilted her head. "Meaning…?"

"I… don't know. Never mind. Also, by the way… I'd prefer it if you didn't tell anyone we're here. Even Cloud. Alright?"

Yuffie sighed. Great. Another secret… "Alright…"

Genesis nodded. Yuffie sighed and led Jenae into the tunnel. She gripped her shuriken tightly, looking around. Once she knew they were too far away for Genesis and his friend to hear them, Yuffie took a deep breath. "Jenae… it's pretty dark… Can I light the fire?"

"Why? I can see."

"Yeah, but I barely can. And you heard what Genna… Genny… Um?"

"Genesis."

"Yeah, right. You heard what Genesis said, didn't you? We have an incredibly dangerous enemy, and she's somewhere nearby… For all we know, she may be right next to us, hiding in the shadows just beyond our range of sight."

"Uh… Right… Yeah, sure. But we'd hear her, right?"

"Maybe, but I still want to be careful. Ack!" Yuffie fell to the floor, having slammed into the wall of the tunnel. "See?! We need light!"

"Ugh… fine… Just keep it away from me…"

Yuffie nodded as she stood up, even though she knew that nobody could see her. First, though, she paused. "Let me see, first…" She looked around. "Jenova…? If you're there, you'd better leave. My friend and I can take you, I think. So… yeah. Go. Now."

_**I'm not leaving, Yuffie.**_

Yuffie cried out, jumping sideways and slamming into Jenae, somehow. Jenae hit the floor while Yuffie hit the wall. Jenae sucked in a deep breath. "What was _that _for?!"

Yuffie shook her head. "I heard her!"

"I didn't…"

"Well, I did. She's within range of hearing us, which means she's close. Like, _really _close. We need to hurry…"

"Alrighty, then." Jenae didn't even wait. She grabbed Yuffie's wrist and started running. Yuffie stumbled after her, trying her hardest to keep up. She was also looking around for Jenova, but she didn't see anyone. Of course, she didn't see any_thing _either, so…

After a while, Yuffie stopped them, having to catch her breath. She shouldn't have gotten tired so quickly, but she couldn't think about it. Jenae didn't seem even slightly tired, and Yuffie didn't want to be proven weak in any way.

Jenae sighed. "We can walk the rest of the way, if you want. It's not too far."

"No! I'm fine! Just… let me catch my breath…"

"Nah; we'll walk." She grabbed Yuffie's wrist again and started walking forward. Yuffie sighed, following her.

It didn't take long for the dull light from the outside world to enter the cave. Yuffie ran to the exit, spinning around in circles as soon as she was outside. "Oh! Oh, yes! Sweet, sweet outside-ness! I never want to leave you again!"

She noticed, though, that everyone else was there, just kind of staring at her. What was _their _problem?

Vincent walked up to Yuffie, calming her down. "Well, you were certainly gone for a while…" He glanced sideways at Jenae, who was giving him a death-glare. He ignored her and looked back at Yuffie. "Did you find anything? Or anyone?"

Yuffie paused. "Uhhh, no." She had promised Genesis, and she always kept her promises. Well, almost always, but still…

He glanced at her. "Are you _sure_…?"

"Well, um…" She leaned in closer to him. "Jenova was down there, somewhere. I don't know where, but she was definitely there."

"Oh… Well, at least you didn't run into her, I suppose… Did she say anything?"

"Just that she wasn't leaving or something like that."

He paused. "That's it? She didn't mention Chaos? Or any… _other _names?" Vincent had explained everything about Chaos, but he had never talked about anyone else…

Then, though, Vincent gasped slightly, curling his hands into fists. Yuffie just kind of stared at him. "Are you alright…?"

"I… no, I don't believe I am…"

After a moment, he sighed, apparently feeling better. By the side of her eye, Yuffie noticed Jenae uncurl her left hand, which she had been clenching tightly in a fist. Had she been worried about Vincent, too? What had just happened, exactly?

Vincent smiled slightly, looking around. "Yes, she's here. That was… a test, so to say. I wanted to find out how much impulse-control she has… and she doesn't have much. But…" He sighed, looking around. Yuffie knew what he was thinking: they couldn't involve the WRO soldiers. They were all in the dark still about what was going on, and that's how it needed to stay. "But that can't matter right now, I must say. We should be getting back, to tell Reeve that we didn't find anything."

Yuffie paused, and then nodded. "Oh, uh, right. Why is he so obsessed with these caves lately, anyways? If you ask me, it's kind of weird."

Vincent smirked and nodded, as though agreeing with someone besides Yuffie. "Exactly, nobody asked you. So, if we can get going?"

Yuffie pouted, but nodded unhappily anyways. She walked over to Jenae. "Alrighty, let's go. That was kind of weird, wasn't it?"

"What was?"

"The way Vinnie was just acting… At first, it was like someone was hurting him, but nobody was near him. And then, he was almost sort of acting like somebody was talking to him. And neither of them like me, apparently…"

_I wonder… was it Jenova? But… Vinnie doesn't have any of her cells in him, right? So how could she hurt him…? I hope she's not getting more powerful… Maybe it was just Chaos. That's probably who was talking to him. But… _was _it Jenova…? He figured out that she couldn't control herself when someone hurt him, so it would make sense if it had been her…_

Jenae seemed to smile slightly, but Yuffie couldn't tell what she was smiling at. Probably the comment about Vincent and his friend not liking her. Then, though, Jenae sighed, shaking her head. "Well, I doubt he'll tell us why. Anyways… are you ready to go?"

Yuffie nodded. "Uh, yeah, I guess…" She looked back at the entrance to the cave where they had been earlier. She looked cautiously at the rest of the group to make certain that they couldn't hear her. Luckily, they had already started walking away. "Um, Jenae… Did you know who that was? In the cave?"

"Who, Genesis?"

"No… the other one. You seemed to recognize the voice."

"Oh, uh… no. I thought that I recognized the voice, yes, but I don't know where I recognized it from…" She seemed to be thinking deeply about something. She was also obviously annoyed, but only because she didn't know who it was… right?

Yuffie sighed, nodding. She hated not knowing things… "Oh, alright… Well, we'll figure it out. We always do. So, for now, we should just not think about it. I'll call Cloud when we get back, and tell him everything… Uh, _almost _everything."

"Right… Then, we should probably get going. They aren't going to wait for us."

Yuffie nodded, following Vincent and the WRO soldiers. Jenae followed closely behind.

Yuffie sighed, watching the rain fall around her. Why was _she _having to deal with so much, by herself? She loved being important, sure. But not when she was having to deal with deadly secrets and homicidal aliens. That just wasn't her thing! That was what Cloud and the others did. But… well, she didn't really have a choice, did she…? No, she didn't. But… that was fine! She knew that she couldn't sit back and watch the others fight anymore… no, this was her chance to truly do something to help!

Yuffie nodded. _Alright, then! That's what I'll do! I'll become stronger, and then, when the time comes, I'll be able to fight alongside Cloud in the final battle! Boy, this is going to take a whole lot more than some materia… Ah, oh well. That can't matter! I _will _do it…_

She looked around, smiling to herself slightly because she knew that becoming a hero may take sacrifice. But she was prepared.

…_No matter _what_ it takes!_


	28. World So Cold

**-Disclaimer- I don't own FF7 or anything having to do with it, nor do I own 'World So Cold' by Three Days Grace. And I don't own anything else that I don't know I included. Move along, copyright people. *cough cough* No copyright law in the universe is gonna stop me! *cough cough* Not even that one. I mean, uh… I don't own anything except my own ideas =3**

**A/N: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! In the Time it took me to publish this, thanks to my severe writer's block on this chapter, I wrote the next two chapters as well as two of the last ones, and one of my four or five possibilities for the last chapter, plus I sketched out all of Jenova's past, AND I wrote a bunch of scenes that happen that won't be published, just for my own reference, such as the unheard half of conversations with characters that use telepathy, etc. (like the one in this chapter). I was also able to make an AMV and get my level 70 to level 86, and finish the Dominance Offensive quests with my main. I know, I need to get my priorities straight… ****Anyways, this chapter is kind of an unimportant bridge, mainly in here for all of the questions from people without accounts, and so that I don't rush into the next chapter, which is quite important and will be up in about an hour, unless I'm unable to publish it for some reason.**** IF YOU DIDN'T ASK A QUESTION, YOU MAY WANT TO SKIP THE REST OF THE NOTE UNTIL YOU SEE OTHER CAPITAL LETTERS, BECAUSE THIS IS, OBVIOUSLY, LONG.**

**Okay, lots of questions, so prepare yourself if you asked one and/or like to read these. Alright, questions… ****1:**** Yes, Jenna and Jenae were both Jenova. ****2:****Carley Strife****, Jenova/Jenna hit herself when she said 'technically' because she meant that she had 'technically' been telling the truth about never being in some sort of relationship, and she realized that saying 'technically' made it sound like she had. Someone had feelings for her once, which was what she had meant, even though they never admitted it to her. But she knew that with everything going on at that moment, she couldn't think about things like that. So she wanted to get it out of her head. ****3:**** Yes, the OC is Cantus, who obviously isn't a part of the actual FF7 storyline, but I don't know yet if I'm going to ever get them together. Thanks for the enthusiasm, but I need to see if anyone else would like that as well. I know it's my fanfiction, but I'm writing it for all of you readers and reviewers. Also, remember that Jenova's still a major antagonist in this story, even if she acts friendly at times, which means she's probably going to have to die… Now, if the majority likes them together, then yes, I may have them end up together and I may bring him back to life and not kill her off in the end. Because otherwise, that'd be depressing, like it might be. And anyone reading this, please review on how you think I may want to end it. As I said, I have a few ideas for the ending, but I don't know which one to do, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ****4:**** If it wasn't a rhetorical question about what was wrong with Vincent, three words: Jenova hates him XD. ****5:**** Wasn't a question, but a guess that I want to acknowledge for everyone (thanks for speculating, by the way =D). Zack being the one with Genesis…? I guess that means I'm doing my job as a mystery writer right, then XD. ****6: Guest****: Who would Jenova's love interest be? Refer to 3 (ooh, that sounded so official-y for some reason). ****7:**** She's a panda (Pandaren) because of WoW (World of Warcraft, if you don't play). Look up 'Jenova Longeye', you'll see. Although, really, I think of her as a Blood Elf with a Mogu's attitude… Hehe, sorry, I doubt most of you will get that, huh? I tend to just go off like that… **

**ANYWAYS!**** That was long. Alright, so, I didn't even realize that this was 27 chapters (28 with this one)… I was planning on it originally having only either 15 or 25… I'm glad that I kept it going. Also, just so you guys know, I'm going to tell Cloud about Sephiroth in the next chapter. That was originally this chapter, but I just couldn't publish it, so I'm putting in another one first. I'll try to publish it as soon as I'm done re-reading it, but I may not, because… well, there have been a lot of weird things happening around me lately. Mainly… you know that feeling when you're begin watched? Yeah, I've had that feeling for the past week or so. Maybe my house is haunted… XD Also, I **_**thought **_**I saw some guy watching me not too long ago when I was at the store, but I think I'm just being my normal paranoid self. *sigh*. But, if I end up getting kidnapped by the government, you guys better use this as evidence and go tell someone… O_o I'm counting on you guys, got it? ANYWAYS, enough with me being weird. Again I saw, this is a very short chapter, just in here to be a kind of bridge to the next one, which will probably be up in an hour, or less. I won't be getting sleep anytime soon, so it could be published at really any hour… Gah, I hate Jeff gifs… Whoa, my music bugged out the second I typed that… =( *sigh* Anyways… HERE WE GO!**

* * *

_**World So Cold**_

Cloud slowly woke up in the morning, looking around. It had been nearly a week since anything much had happened. Cloud had visited Sephiroth a few times, but had mainly just stayed and helped Tifa. Jenova hadn't been present very much… which meant that something was probably wrong. She _never _liked to stay quiet…

Well, at least she wasn't missing or anything, as she was leaning against the wall on the other side of the room with her eyes closed. She was singing softly to herself, but Cloud couldn't make out the words. Something about being left behind and feeling like she was losing her mind. She actually had an amazing singing voice, but Cloud didn't really care, since she was evil and everything…

"Hello, Jenova…"

Jenova jumped. "Oh! Hello, Jerry. Jason. Steve. Cloud! Okay, sorry. The internet ruined me… Anyways, you know Tifa's been awake for, like, an hour, right?"

"And you've been in here since then…?"

"Yeah. Alright, are you just going to do boring things today again, or do you have something to do?"

"Uh… Well, I don't know, really. I don't have anything to do today, so I was going to just stay here again…"

"Hmph. Well, we'd better find something to do, because I'm getting bored."

"Yeah, I know. I must admit that I kind of go through a bit of withdrawal whenever I'm not doing something, lately."

She paused, one of his words seeming to catch her attention. But Cloud couldn't tell which one. "Speaking of that… How long has it been since we were in Nibelheim?"

"A week, I believe. Why?"

"Only a week? It felt longer… Hmph. I've gone far longer than this. Just not on purpose… Ah, well, I should be fine for a while longer…"

"Uh… what?"

She sighed, shaking her head. "Oh, never mind. That doesn't concern you."

"You're being… oddly serious. What happened?"

"Eh? Nothing at all. Why do you ask?"

He shook his head. Something was… different about her. He couldn't really explain it. This actually tended to happen a lot, he noticed. One moment, she'd be her normal evil-yet-playful self, then the next moment she'd be completely serious. There was also that incident back at Nibelheim, where she had gone insane and been slightly manic, and within a second she had become completely somber and appeared actually depressed. What was up with that…?

Cloud sighed. "I don't know. I was just wondering… Anyways, another question… Where were you this past week?"

"Avoiding you guys." She froze. "Uh, I uh… I mean…"

Cloud shook his head. "You were avoiding me…?"

"Well, not you, actually. Sephiroth, mainly." She hit herself. "Why am I telling you this?! I just mean that, uh, I've been around him too much, and I don't want him to know about the past just yet?"

"_Somehow_, I can tell you're lying…"

"Doesn't matter. It's none of your business, anyways. Now, do we have _anything _to do, or should I just leave again…?"

'_We'…? _Cloud sighed. "Well, I didn't really want to do anything unless I needed to…" Then, though, he heard something outside of his window. He went over to look outside, trying to figure out what it was that he had heard.

"…Are you alright…?" Jenova asked cautiously, trying to figure out what was going on. But Cloud didn't really hear her.

"Yeah."

Jenova paused. "So… there's _nothing _to do…?"

"Yeah." He wasn't even listening to her anymore, really…

Jenova was silent for a moment. "Hey, Cloud, I'm going to go kill everyone in this city. Is that alright with you?"

"Yeah." He froze, though, hearing just enough of her sentence to know what she was saying.

"Hah, okayyyy!" And, with that, she teleported away.

Cloud turned around frantically. With her, it was impossible to tell if she had been joking. "Jenova?!" He spoke loud enough so that, if anyone was upstairs, they'd be able to hear him, but surely everyone else was downstairs by now, right…? "_Jenova!_"

Cloud jumped as soon as he heard her laughing behind him. He turned around to face her, glaring. She grinned at him. "I just wanted to see if you had been listening to me..."

"Oh, good…" He shook his head, turning to face the window again.

Jenova sighed. "What's so important that's outside, anyways?"

"I… don't really know, to be honest. I thought I heard something, maybe up on the roof? One of your friends?"

She paused, thinking. "During the day? Doubtful…"

"Genesis, then?"

"Maybe, but I don't think he'd be hanging around here, with far more entertaining things to do. Maybe it's one of _your _friends. You know, the Turks?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "You think so…?"

"It makes sense…"

"I suppose so… But would they really care enough to stalk me…?"

He gave her a quick look, since he had just figured something out: if it _was _one of the Turks, then they were probably listening to the conversation. Maybe Jenova could surprise them…

Jenova grinned. _**Ohhhh, of course, I didn't even think about that until just now. Great idea. **_

Cloud was startled at first, but then he remembered that she could hear his thoughts… Well, in this case, that was actually helpful. Jenova nodded. "Oh, of course. Yeah, you're probably right… Anyways… Gah, you're so _boring._ Fine, if you aren't doing anything, then I guess I'll just go harass Yuffie or something…" She glanced at him with a sly twinkle in her eyes before disappearing. Almost immediately, Cloud heard a thud up on the roof. He quickly ran up to the roof, passing a startled Marlene. Wait… Marlene had been there the whole time?! Great…

Cloud quickly made his way up to the roof, to where Jenova was standing above a stunned Elena.

Jenova glanced back at Cloud. "Took you long enough… Anyways, we were right, obviously. Missy here was listening to our entire conversation. It's a good thing we didn't say anything important… Did we?"

They both looked expectantly at Elena, who shook herself out of her daze. She cautiously stood up. "What? Huh? Oh, no, I don't, uh, think so…" She nodded at Jenova. "You hinted at something, something about going through withdrawal, but nothing other than that…"

Jenova paused. "When did I- oh, yeah, that… Well, forget you ever heard that, alright?"

Elena shook her head, looking slightly like a cornered animal. "As a Turk, I cannot make any promises about forgetting something that may be important."

"It's not important," Jenova all but growled, a hateful look in her eyes that surprised Cloud just as much as it seemed to worry Elena.

Elena, though, probably risked her life by speaking out again. "If it's not important, then why don't you want me to know about it?"

Jenova closed her eyes, sighing. She then glared at Elena. "Look here, Elena. I know that you and your friends like knowing things you shouldn't, but sometimes, those things are best left unknown. Especially when they have to do with me. When I said that it wasn't important, I meant that it's something you don't get to know. Got it?"

Whatever Elena had tried to figure out, it had _really _ticked off Jenova. She almost _never _called anyone by their actual names. The fact that she was using Elena's name, and that she was obviously trying to keep her voice calm, meant that Elena was getting to close to something Jenova didn't want anyone knowing. If only they could push her a bit farther without someone getting killed… Well, maybe Cloud could try and figure something out on his own, for once…

Elena shook her head, and Cloud almost wanted to knock her out himself. "But-"

Jenova narrowed her eyes, which glowed a bit more than normal. "I'm holding myself back, girly, but I'll warn you that I'm _not _in a good mood. If I wasn't trying to keep myself back lately, you'd already be dead. But…" She grinned disarmingly at Elena. "I'm sure Chaos wouldn't care if there was one less life force in this world…" Cloud would be lying if he said that that sentence didn't worry him. Not just about Jenova killing Elena, but… why would Chaos care about how many 'life forces' there were…?

Elena took a cautious step back, and Cloud stepped in between her and Jenova. "No, Jenova. You don't get to kill Elena."

She glared at him. "You don't command me, Cloud. But… I may spare her life, if she stops trying to get herself killed by taunting me, even if she doesn't know she is…"

Elena sighed. "Fine. Whatever… I'll figure it out, though. I always do…" And, with that, she leapt from that roof to another, and kept on running until she was out of sight. Were the Turks going to be coming back often? This wasn't good…

Jenova shook her head. "I hate humans…" she muttered.

Cloud smirked. "Gee, thanks…"

She smiled slightly, glancing back at him. She looked around, then. "Hmm… this is the first time I realized… It's raining, you know?"

Cloud looked around. Sure enough, it definitely was raining. Not very hard, of course, but still…. But… something was wrong…

Jenova nodded. "Yeah, exactly. It's raining, but the air seems a bit dry… Is it just me? Or do you notice it, too…?"

"No, you're right… something's strange here…"

Jenova jumped, then, for some reason. "Wh-what? Oh… Oh, okay… What? Yeah, why…? Yes, I know… Not yet, but… I know…" She sighed unhappily, shaking her head. "Oh, the irony…" she muttered to herself.

Cloud just kind of stared at her. "Um…? What was that all about, exactly?"

"Well, we wanted to know what was wrong with the air, and Chaos decided to answer."

"Oh… And I'm assuming you won't tell me why?"

"Correct, potato."

Cloud sighed. "Right… And what was the rest of the conversation about?"

Jenova shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

"Well… It sounded like you were the one answering questions, at the end there…"

She sighed. "Yeah, whatever. It's nothing you need to know. Just my own issues… Anyways, come on. Let's go…"

"Where…?"

"Downstairs, I guess, if there's nothing else to do…"

Cloud nodded. "I suppose it's better than letting you go off and potentially hurt anyone…" He paused, as he realized something about what he had been thinking about earlier. "By the way, Jenova? Can I ask… Do you have multiple personalities?"

She smirked. "What? No, why?"

"I don't know… are you sure? Because you start acting strangely at times…"

"Yes, I'm sure. Because of how my mind is, the only way I could split my personality would be if something traumatic happened to me. Haven't you ever watched Deadman Wonderland? Or Elfen Lied? No, of course you haven't. But I'd have to go through something like they did in order for me to end up like them… Ah, never mind. There's no point explaining. Can we just go?" Something seemed to be bothering her, but Cloud didn't press the issue, since he didn't want to end up where Elena had nearly been…

"Oh, alright… at least you won't be off killing people while I'm here doing nothing…"

She smirked, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, exactly. Alright, at least I won't be _completely _bored…"

But she shook her head, then. "Wha…? No, Chaos. I'm not going to- I already _am_, thanks to you!" She visibly winced, as though someone had hit her. "I don't care! That's _your _fault, not mine!" She stumbled back, looking stunned and gasping slightly, which gave Cloud the feeling that Chaos had mentally hit her again, or whatever. What was going on…? Obviously, Chaos wanted Jenova to do something that she didn't want to do, and he wasn't very happy about her refusing to do whatever it was…

Jenova's eyes acquired a look of pure hatred. "Fine! Fine, alright?!" She shook her head unhappily. "I have to go for a minute, Cloud…"

Cloud glanced cautiously at her. "Why…? Does Chaos want you to kill someone, or something?"

"Actually, yes," she said somberly. Cloud stared at her.

"What?! Why? Who?"

She shrugged. "It's a _long _story… as to who, nobody in particular. Just anybody, really."

"What?! So you're just supposed to go out and kill some innocent bystander?!"

"Basically…" She shook her head. "There's no time to explain. Sorry. I need to go…"

Cloud tried to stop her, but she was already gone. He couldn't just sit back, but there was nothing he could do. He hoped that she found it in herself to defy Chaos for once, since she so obviously wanted to… But… well, it was up to her, now…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Elena sighed, leaning against a wall. How could she be a good Turk if people were finding her before she got the information she needed…? She had tried to stalk Cloud and Sephiroth – who she had found after a bit of searching – for quite a while now, but Jenova seemed to be watching them like a hawk, always shooting a blast of energy at Elena that always just narrowly missed her and forced her to run off. There had to be a way to avoid getting caught…

Then, though, Elena saw something she wasn't expecting: Jenova. Jenova didn't seem to see her, but, just in case, Elena dove behind part of the building she was on before she tried to see what Jenova was doing.

Jenova was, for some reason, just standing there. Elena finally noticed that Jenova was watching someone or something… but why?

Elena snuck around the building she was on as cautiously as she could. Luckily, the sounds of everyday life were loud enough to hide her footfalls as she quickly wound her way through the buildings. She finally saw that Jenova was watching a small group of people who had made their way into a small ally and into an area where nobody could see them. Oh no…

Elena pulled out the gun she always kept with her, just in case she could use it to do any good in the situation that she knew was about to take place…

Then, the situation took a rather unexpected turn. The small group noticed Jenova, and they all started freaking out. Sure, she was covering her eyes with sunglasses, but these people still saw some person with two swords standing above them.

The oldest in the group – they all seemed to be barely teenagers except for this one – pushed the others behind her. She was probably only in her early twenties, yet she was willing to let herself get killed in order to protect the others. One or two of the others stepped up with her, shielding their friends. Jenova just watched them, standing still. Elena couldn't tell if any of them were saying anything, but it probably didn't change the situation much. She _had _to do something…

But, it seemed, she didn't need to. Jenova said something – or whispered it, which was what it looked more like – and shook her head. Then, instead of attacking anyone, she ran off. The group seemed surprised, and quickly made sure that every one of them was alright. What had just happened…?

Elena quickly took off in the direction Jenova had gone, trying to figure out where she – she? It? Elena wasn't really entirely sure, still – was. She stopped to rest for just a moment, though, and unfortunately didn't think to make sure that she was safe.

"How long have you been following me?" Jenova asked, startling Elena. Elena turned around to face the alien-being, shaking her head.

"A while. What… what happened, back there?"

Jenova looked away. "I… I don't know what you mean."

"Yes, you do. Those people… You saw how they protected each other, and you ran off. Why?" Surely, Jenova's only purpose was to kill, so what had happened…?

Jenova sighed, taking off her sunglasses and throwing them to the side. "Just… they were willing to die, to protect their friends. People really need to stop doing that…"

"Why? Is it too 'good' for you?"

"No," Jenova whispered. "It's just that, that's the easiest way to get yourself killed, taking the fall for a friend. Why… why do you people do that for each other? I just don't understand it… And not just humans. Cetra, too. All of you mortal races with minds of your own. Why…?"

Elena paused. "I suppose, when you care about someone enough, you'd do anything to protect them. It wouldn't matter if you died, as long as you saved someone else. We don't do it to become heroes, or to be recognized in any way. Sometimes, we'd just lay down our lives if we knew it would save others. It's just… how we are, I suppose. Not all of us are like that, but there are definitely people out there that would gladly do such a thing. And some that have. They may not want to be heroes, but they are."

"…I suppose that may be true, in some cases. But, in others… isn't that just simply stupid? Isn't it your natural instinct to survive?"

Elena shrugged. Jenova thought she had humans all figured out, but she didn't really know anything… "For some, maybe. But, in the end, there are those that would do anything to protect others. Sometimes, even people that they don't know. As long as they save others, they'll be content. You think of us humans as something you've mapped out in its entirety, but you obviously don't know as much about us as you think you do. Even we don't understand our own actions, sometimes. And if we don't, then you _definitely _don't. Alright? We aren't like you at all, if you haven't figured it out yet. Unlike you, we'll fight for what we love, not simply for ourselves. Not simply because we can. And that's why we'll win. I _know _we will."

Jenova paused, and then nodded. "Maybe… maybe you're right. For now, though… it seems I still have much to learn about you humans. And myself, as well. I shouldn't have cared about one of you protecting another… so why did I?"

"I don't know, to be honest with you. Only you can answer that."

She nodded. "Alright, then. I will. I'll make sure that I do… with time, perhaps I'll understand both of us. I don't know. We'll have to see, I suppose. And… don't tell Cloud, alright? That I chose not to kill? Tell him, if he asks you, that Chaos pulled me away before I could. I assume you know who that is, by now."

"I…" Elena saw the desperation in Jenova's eyes, and nodded. "Alright." How did a creature like Jenova even feel emotions…? Until now, Elena hadn't thought it possible. She had thought of Jenova as merely Hojo's project, as well as a scourge to the Planet. She had never thought of Jenova as an actual person until this moment… Perhaps being around humans was changing her for the better. Hopefully so…

Jenova sighed. "No, you're right. I _am _a scourge to the Planet. I doubt that will ever change. But never forget that I have a consciousness, just as you do. My existence is just simply… different than yours, I suppose."

Elena had forgotten momentarily that her thoughts weren't safe around Jenova, but she didn't really care. She nodded. "I guess so…"

Jenova sighed. "It doesn't really matter, though. I need to get going, and figure out how to explain not killing anyone to Chaos… I'll see you later, I suppose…"

Without another word, Jenova disappeared. Elena sighed unhappily. There was far more to Jenova than she had originally thought. But, unfortunately, that didn't change the fact that they were enemies…

Elena looked back towards the general direction of where Shinra was, knowing that, for once, she'd have to keep something from him. She could do it, and she _would _do it. She had no choice, after all.

Elena looked around, realizing for the first time that something was off with the air. It was raining, but… dry? At least, the air around the rain was dry. How strange… this _definitely _wasn't normal. This was something she could tell Rufus, since it was something anyone who paid attention would know.

Elena sighed, starting back towards where the others were. She just hoped that things wouldn't get any more complicated than this…

* * *

**A/N: Gah, I'm still freaking out over that stupid gif =/ Every Time my music pauses for a second, I pull my headphones off as quickly as I can before realizing that it's okay… Ugh… Anyways, just saying, the last part of this is dedicated to the shooting in Newtown. This was a real tragedy that was not in control of the victims. It should have never happened. None of the recent tragedies should have happened, controversial suicides included. If any of you know someone planning on being a copycat, please, tell me. I'll sic Jenova on them… And then put it on YouTube. Hehehehehehehehehe… Anyways, see you in about an hour!**


	29. The Beginning of the End

**A/N: OH MY GODDESS YESTERDAY WAS SO AWESOME! Wasn't it?! …Oh, right, most of you won't even know what I'm talking about, because of that explosion… *sigh* Besides, most of it wasn't even on Earth… Oh well, I'll just celebrate the awesomeness in silence, then… Let's just say that the world may not have ended on the twenty-first, but it wasn't without event….. XD**

**Okay, story wise: Well, first off, Hazza, thank you, I'm happy to be back. Sorry, I would have thanked you with the private message thing, but I must admit that I'm a bit shy and normally don't do that unless whoever it is asks me to or says it's alright… CARLEY STRIFE: Hehe, sorry about that being so long. Three pages on Word, I believe. And thanks, it was such a tragedy that I would have hated myself if I didn't put something in… Anyways, Jenova and Cantus weren't in a relationship, but he had feelings for her. He didn't admit it to her because, obviously, things in Gaia started taking a very dark turn. She didn't know it until (I wrote it out) Cantus thought that she had died and thought that the being trying to destroy Gaia was someone else, and he made a comment about her imitating deceased loved ones when she was in her own form in front of him. So, yeah, you can probably guess the rest. GUEST: Uh… I can't answer that yet; that's something she talks about later on. Just a forewarning, that's one of the darker parts in this… Meggamonster: I can't tell you the secret part of the conversation, because then, it wouldn't be a secret. Plus, Chaos's side of it would reveal quite a lot, including the answer to Guest's question. And yeah, it shouldn't have. Lastly… *facepalm* He might not at all; just wait for me to figure the ending out, please.**

**Okay, real quick, as to the storyline itself, although most of it is a bit lighthearted, there **_**are **_**some dark parts, like in this chapter and the few coming up, because it wouldn't be Final Fantasy without them. Okay? Okay. Begin!**

* * *

_**Ugh, I hate this part… tell me when it's over… Oh, wait, I'm the one writing it down. So I guess you can't tell me when the chapter's done. Wait… who am I talking to…? Eh, never mind.**_

* * *

_**The Beginning of the End**_

A few weeks passed without anything much happening. Cloud just continued on his normal business: completing deliveries and checking on Sephiroth from time to time. Jenova rarely showed up physically, but she was always there to lend a sarcastic comment mentally. However, she seemed back to her normal, non-depressed self. Cloud, wanting to keep it that way, never brought up her past, no matter how much he wanted to. He was just glad that Chaos had decided to keep her from killing people, as she had said…

Tifa went about her normal business every day, as though nothing else was happening. Cloud received a call once from Yuffie, telling him that Genesis had been with someone at some point, but that she didn't remember where they had been – Cloud doubted that that last part had been the truth, but he hadn't pushed her. Other than that one call, he hadn't heard anything else from her or any other WRO members. Barret had called to check in on them once, apologizing for being so caught up in his own work that he hadn't visited them lately. Other than that, Cloud hadn't heard anything from any of his friends that he couldn't talk to face-to-face.

Marlene seemed to be taking a month off from protecting whoever, as she tended to spend most of her time now either helping Tifa in 7th Heaven or talking with Denzel. Of course, that was how it had started off. Over the past few days, though, she seemed suddenly very alert and busy with things that nobody knew. Cloud asked her what she was doing once, and she just simply said that she was 'being proactive'. But even though some people threw the term around loosely and just meant that they were being 'active', Cloud knew that Marlene meant the literal definition of the word. Which meant that she was preparing for something… but what? With her, it was probably something world-changing…

The day after that conversation was the day everything changed, and everything started to get so much worse. This was merely the beginning of the coming end, of course, but it set everything in motion. And very few could even see it as, at first, there was no real noticeable change on the Planet. But there were definitely some changes in the lives of our little entourage of heroes…

Cloud came downstairs after sleeping in strangely late. He hadn't done any of his deliveries for a few days, nor had he done… well, anything else. So he couldn't really explain his loss of energy. And he was fairly certain that Jenova didn't do anything… probably.

Cloud noticed that Tifa was talking to Jenna at the main bar. Jenna had been in here quite a lot recently, ever since things started quieting down. Marlene was watching them, fidgeting nervously with her hands. Although, Cloud got the feeling that it wasn't their conversation that was making her nervous… The bar had just closed, so they were the only ones in there. Cloud noticed that it was actually five in the afternoon, which made him slightly worried. Had he really slept in so late…? Also, why had Tifa closed early…? Another thing Cloud noticed… Denzel was still upstairs. Was he alright…?

Cloud walked up to Tifa and Jenna. Right now, she and Tifa were talking about – shocker – the weather. However, unlike most times, they actually seemed truly interested in it. They didn't even notice Cloud yet, and they truly _were _talking about the weather. It _had_ been… weird, lately. It had been getting stranger since that one day when Cloud and Jenova had first noticed that something was off. The clouds had become darker, and the air had become much drier. Cloud was fairly certain that this wasn't the Planet reacting to someone's emotions anymore; he could almost be sure that this weather wasn't even the Planet's doing at all.

Jenna looked up at him first. "Oh, hey, Cloud." She seemed… tired. Just like he was. Why? Well, it didn't really matter too much at the moment. After all, she _was _just a normal human, so being tired wasn't something to worry about. Cloud, however, was enhanced, so him being tired was a bit stranger.

He nodded at her. "Oh, hey. You're tired, too?"

"Oh, yeah… Not really sure why, myself."

"Same… Well, it doesn't really matter, I suppose. I guess we should just get more sleep, right?"

"Heh, easier said than done, for me at least. But you're right. So… Would you like to join into our oh-so-exciting conversation?"

"You know, I'd _love _to, but I think I should finally go figure out what's wrong with Marlene."

Tifa nodded. "That'd be good. I'm starting to get worried about her… plus, the way she's acting is starting to worry me about what's really… going on…"

Jenna glanced at her, but shrugged. Cloud nodded, walking over to Marlene and leaving Jenna and Tifa to their weather-talk.

Marlene looked up at Cloud as he approached. "Oh! Hello, Cloud! Is… something wrong?"

"I'd like to ask you the same question," he said, sitting down across from her.

She nodded. "Okay… Well, first off, I think you should know that I'm the one who told Tifa to close early."

"Oh… why, though?" He was actually fairly surprised that she hadn't danced around the subject at all. That meant something definitely _was _wrong…

"That's what I was getting to. You see, I think – no, I _know _– that something is going to happen today. I don't know what, but it's not good."

"Really? Something that Jenova's going to do, you mean?" He made sure to lower his voice so that Jenna couldn't hear him. Tifa couldn't, either, but he'd tell her everything later. Jenna tilted her head slightly, but probably at something Tifa was saying… right?

Marlene paused, glancing over at Jenna and Tifa and then turning back to Cloud. "No… no, I don't think that it's Jenova."

"Who, then?"

She started to speak, but didn't get the chance, as someone walked into 7th Heaven. He looked fairly normal, but with pale skin and shoulder-length black hair, he looked slightly… off. But Cloud didn't want to judge anyone without getting to know them; he had learned not to every day in his life so far.

"Jenna," the man said, his voice turning Cloud's blood cold. Cloud couldn't tell whether or not he had ever heard the voice before… it was weird, really, as though he knew this man, but all memory of him had been wiped. Jenova's doing, perhaps? Doubtful… it didn't feel like her mind-meddling…

Marlene's eyes held an odd look of fear in them, but Cloud, unfortunately, wasn't paying attention.

Jenna froze, then turned around to face him. "C-Garland? What are you…?"

He smirked at her. "You need to come with me."

"…Okay?" She was glancing at him warily, as though she didn't completely trust him. She nodded at Tifa. "We'll finish our conversation later, 'kay?"

Tifa smiled at her. "Oh, of course. See you later."

Jenna smiled at her, and then stood up, following this guy, Garland, out of 7th Heaven. As she passed Marlene, though, they exchanged a quick glance, as though trying to say something. But, of course, neither of them got the chance.

Cloud looked at Marlene, who was obviously incredibly worried. "What was that about…? Was something wrong?"

"'Is', Cloud. Something _is _wrong. Not because of them, but, uh, that just reminded me… you have to go. Now. Otherwise, things might turn out badly…"

"Wait, what?!"

"I… I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. But there's no time to explain. You need to get to Midgar. Now. …The old Mako Reactor 5."

"You know that how…? Oh, Cetra?"

"Yep. Now, _go._"

Tifa shook her head, apparently having been listening in the whole time. "But, Marlene… Can he handle whatever you're sending him in against?"

Marlene paused, and then nodded. "Yes. Should things take a turn for the worse, my _friends _are assuming that he'll get… help."

Cloud glanced at her. "Why'd you say it like that…?"

"It doesn't matter. You don't have time to be questioning me!" She sighed. "Sorry, I'm just annoyed that I wouldn't be able to do anything myself, even if I tried. It's all up to you, and I want to make sure that everything goes well…"

Cloud nodded. "Alright, well… I guess I don't really have a choice. Wish me luck, guys…"

Tifa nodded. "Good luck, Cloud. You may need it…"

He smirked. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. Of course, you're right. I didn't even know something was wrong until about a minute ago, and now I'm charging blindly into something that's apparently very important… But, oh well. I guess I'll figure it out as I go, like I always do…"

And so, without another word, Cloud stood up and walked out of 7th Heaven. He walked over to Fenrir, leaping on it and starting it.

"Jenova? You there?"

No response. Suspicious… But, Cloud couldn't think about it. She obviously had something to do with this, of course, but he at least expected her to respond. However, she must have had something else to do.

Cloud made certain that every one of the Fusion Swords were in their place. Once he was ready, he sped off towards Midgar, trying multiple times to reach Jenova with no luck.

When Cloud was nearly to Midgar, a thought struck him: what about Sephiroth? Would something happen to him? Would whatever was happening give him his memories back? Cloud hoped not, but he was fairly certain that his hoping was in vain.

Finally, Cloud reached the reactor. Apparently, Shinra had repaired it after AVALANCHE had destroyed it. However, Meteor had done quite a lot of damage as well. But the reactor seemed to be in good enough condition for whatever was going to happen in there.

Cloud put the Fusion Swords together, holding the sword tightly in his hand as he walked into the reactor. He looked around, not hearing or seeing anything suspicious at first.

Cloud knew why whoever it was – probably Chaos – would want to use the reactor to do whatever he was doing; even when it wasn't working, the reactor was a direct link to the Lifestream. That would be a lot of power to use, assuming Chaos could somehow tap into it.

Then, finally, Cloud heard something coming from nearby. He quickly moved along the rafters to look down, where all he could see was a haze of green energy. How had Chaos tapped into the Lifestream so easily?! Did he have a Cetra working for him, or something? Or had he just had enough time to figure out how the Planet worked…? Whichever it was, this could only mean one thing: Cloud was too late.

Finally, the green energy cleared. Chaos was down there – he looked sort of how he looked whenever he took control of Vincent, except for the fact that this Chaos was definitely larger, had different armor that was some sort of nearly-black plate, and had skin that was slightly darker than Cloud remembered. Surrounding Chaos were multiple cloaked figures – what was up with the cloaks…? Cloud couldn't tell how many, because the brightness of the Lifestream's energy had messed his vision up slightly.

Chaos said a few things to the figures around him. He wasn't speaking loudly enough for Cloud to make out his words, but the figures around him all walked off when he was done speaking. They all seemed to be real beings, so Cloud found himself wondering if they were past antagonists that Chaos had resurrected. Of course, just because Cloud was hoping that that was a wrong assumption, that meant that that was exactly who these people were.

Most of the people walked off in groups, seeming to know each other. Two of them, however, kept their distance, especially from each other. Cloud could tell that neither of them wanted to be near any of the others around them. One seemed to just be observing the others, while the other was truly trying to keep their distance. But, who were they? And what made them different from the others…?

As soon as everyone except for Chaos was gone, Cloud tried to discreetly get out. But, having his luck, he instead tripped and fell, landing a few feet away from Chaos. Chaos smirked at him, not seeming even slightly surprised. "Well, hello," he said, his deep, demonic voice sending a strange fear through Cloud.

Cloud shook his head, grabbing his sword and jumping to his feet. Chaos rolled his red eyes. "You _honestly _think you can defeat me…?"

"Well, I don't really have a choice, do I?" Cloud said, not feeling even slightly confident in his own words. There was just something about Chaos's presence that made Cloud doubt himself much, _much _more than he should have.

Cloud tried his hardest to fight Chaos, but with every swing of his own sword, Cloud just doubted himself more and more. Chaos didn't even need to do anything except for take a step back every now and then. Other than that, he just watched Cloud with amusement.

Finally, Chaos drew his own large sword, actually fighting Cloud. But it didn't take long for Chaos to obviously win. If Cloud survived this, he knew that he'd only have a chance against Chaos if he learned to get past whatever aura Chaos had that made Cloud doubt himself so much.

Then, things took a turn for the even more surprising. Chaos knocked Cloud against a wall and was preparing to either kill him or break every bone in his body with his giant sword of doom when, of all people, Sephiroth came in and blocked Chaos, somehow. He was back in his original outfit and was, of course, using Masamune. Cloud just kind of stared at him.

Chaos smirked. "I was wondering when you were going to show up. You'd betray me so easily? And Jenova?"

Sephiroth smirked. "It's not betrayal. I'm simply protecting Cloud. That doesn't interfere with your plans in any way, does it?"

"It doesn't matter whether it does or not. You're in my way, and I take that as a betrayal."

Cloud glanced at Sephiroth. "Um… what? Did Jenova give you your memories back…?"

"I never lost them, Cloud. I apologize for lying. I honestly thought that I could stop something like this from happening, but I don't know why…"

Chaos nodded. "So you _were _planning on betraying us. Just wait until I let Jenova loose on you…"

Sephiroth visibly winced, but shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'll still protect Cloud, no matter how much you threaten me."

"So be it." Once again, Chaos attempted to swing his sword around, but, yet again, things became surprising. This time, nobody blocked the strike. However, somebody else took it.

Somebody in a grey cloak – seriously, _what was up with the cloaks_?! – jumped in front of Sephiroth, pushing Cloud and Sephiroth to the side and letting Chaos's strike hit them instead. The strike should have been no easy thing to take, but the person just seemed to brush it off as though nothing had happened.

Chaos just stared. "Wait… what?! Sephiroth I'd expect, but where did _you _come from?! And why did you… why _would _you…?!"

The person didn't say anything. He – or she – just stood there, watching Chaos expectantly. Chaos smirked.

"I thought you would have learned by now… but it seems that I was wrong. Perhaps I need to remind you why you shouldn't ever betray me…"

The person took a step back, but Chaos just simply grabbed them before they could get away from him. He looked at Sephiroth and Cloud. "You two are saved… for now. We'll finish this later. Or perhaps I'll just send Jenova after you. Either way, neither of you are safe anymore…"

Then, Chaos and the person disappeared.

Cloud shakily stood up. What had just happened…? Who had that been, that had saved them? Who had Chaos summoned? And, the most important of Cloud's questions… Sephiroth remembered everything?!

Cloud eyed Sephiroth warily. "So… what now?"

Sephiroth shook his head, obviously thinking deeply about what had just happened. "We should probably get out of here before Jenova shows up. Chaos will tell her what happened, assuming she doesn't already know. I'll do my best to calm her down, as I always do. You, meanwhile, should probably go back to Tifa… You'll be safe there for now, with Marlene watching your back whenever you're not."

"Does Marlene know about you…?"

"Yes. I told her not to tell you, so don't be angry with her. As I said, I was trying to stop this from happening, and so you couldn't know about me. But, unfortunately, we were both too late…"

"What did Chaos _do_, exactly?"

"I believe he brought back many previous antagonists to help him do whatever. I don't know how though… The Lifestream is pretty messed up, so nobody should be able to come back anymore, but Chaos must have had a direct link to the Planet. However, there's no way he'd be able to do that again, nor would anyone else be able to… So that means that dying isn't an option if we want to make it through this. But I still just don't get how he could have had a link to the Planet…"

"Shouldn't you know these things?" Cloud asked, glaring at him.

Sephiroth smirked. "Listen, Cloud. I know we're enemies, but I'm not trying to kill you. Alright? I don't know what Chaos is planning. Only Jenova does. You can ask her, if you want."

"I've been trying… she hasn't answered me today…"

Sephiroth paused. "Same… Why, though? Did she say anything?"

"No… wouldn't she have told you?"

"She doesn't tell me much of anything. Only what, as she says, I need to know."

"Then we're kind of still in the same place, aren't we…?" Cloud sighed. "Look, Sephiroth. Can we try to not be enemies for a while? For once? There's too much going on right now _without _us trying to kill each other…"

Sephiroth nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Nothing's changed, really, besides the fact that I actually know everything that's happened. You and I have a common goal at the moment: we both want to cancel out the effects of the spell Chaos just cast. We'd both be better off without it… so perhaps we can actually help each other."

"Right… By the way, who else knows about you…?"

He thought for a moment. "Marlene, Deneh, Genesis, and Yuffie."

"Yuffie knows?!"

"Heh, yeah, Yuffie knows. When she saw me in Midgar, she actually overheard my entire conversation with Marlene. And yes, Marlene was there."

"…Great. And how long has Genesis known?"

"He found out in Nibelheim."

"Oh… Anyone else?"

"Not that you don't know about."

Cloud sighed. "I _knew _something was up… How could I have been so stupid…? Don't answer that, by the way."

"Heh, got it. Anyways, you should probably get back to Tifa and Marlene. I'll go find Jenova…"

"Can't I come with you…? I'm still a part of this, you know…"

"Oh, I know. That's why I don't want you to come with me. Unless, of course, you _want _to be the one to face her wrath, as I'm assuming she knows what happened by now…"

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I though not. Also, though, I want to ask her if she knows who that person was… and what happened to them."

Cloud winced. "I doubt you want to know…"

"No, I probably don't, but I'd at least like to know if they're alive. And who they are."

Cloud paused, thinking. "I wonder… Chaos said 'where did you come from', and he also made it quite clear that he hadn't expected this person to show up and defend us. Maybe… do you think it was the Guardian? Do you know what that is, by the way?"

"Unfortunately, no, I don't know what a Guardian is. I've heard Jenova mention it once, but she never explained what it was."

"Well, according to Jenova, a Guardian is sort of like the defender of a world. Every planet that has life has a Guardian to defend it. But Jenova killed every single one of them except for one, who is, in fact, the Guardian of our planet."

"O…kay?"

"I know, it confuses me, too. Anyways, apparently, the Guardian used to be on Chaos's side or something, but he did something to her that made her hate him. So, one thing led to another, and now, basically, Jenova's current goal is to kill this Guardian. So, if that was her, then I doubt she's still alive by now…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Well, we'd better find Jenova and find out…"

Cloud sighed. "Yeah, but… what about those people that Chaos summoned?"

"Honestly, I think Jenova is far more dangerous. We'll take care of them once I've found her, alright? For now, you should get rest. Chaos's spell seemed to have drained you for some reason, and neither of us want you to die fighting just Chaos's subordinates."

"Oh, right… I suppose I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yes, you will. I believe I know who some of the people are that Chaos brought back, but I need to make sure. If I am right, though, we'll need to get rid of them as quickly as possible, for both of our sakes."

"That's quite an ominous sentence, but alright…" Cloud cautiously walked out of the reactor with Sephiroth close behind him. Cloud kept a tight grip on his sword and a close eye on Sephiroth, just in case. Luckily, though, they made it out without killing each other. Cloud, without really anything else to say, just leapt on Fenrir and took off back towards 7th Heaven. He wasn't sure why he was being so calm about all of this; maybe he was just in shock. This had all happened so quickly… even he wasn't exactly certain what had all just happened. Perhaps Marlene would be able to clear a few things up, since she apparently knew _everything_…

Fenrir had barely pulled to a complete stop before Cloud turned it off and jumped off of it. He kept his sword with him, just in case. Then, he walked into 7th Heaven. Tifa looked up at him, worried. Marlene was there, but she wasn't looking at him. Denzel was still nowhere to be seen.

Cloud shook his head. "Where's Denzel…?"

"Upstairs… Marlene said that he probably shouldn't know about whatever happened, but she's refusing to tell me exactly _what _happened."

Cloud glared at Marlene, who had finally turned around to face him. "Why didn't you tell me, Marlene?! About Sephiroth?!"

"You weren't ready to know yet. I was told not to tell you, because it might mess up whatever he was doing. Since you know, I take that to mean you got there too late?"

"Yes, I did. And I almost _died_. I would have, had Sephiroth and somebody I'm assuming you know not stepped in."

"Wait, what?" Tifa asked, puzzled. Cloud nodded at her.

"Sephiroth never lost his memories. Marlene knew, all along, but couldn't tell us because it would have stopped him from doing something he wasn't even able to do anyways. We both promised not to attack each other, luckily. There's far too much going on. But I don't completely trust him…"

"Well, I wouldn't, either!"

Marlene, who had gone off into a thought, finally spoke up again. "What do you mean, 'somebody you're assuming I know'? Who?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't know. They were wearing a grey cloak. Almost everyone has a cloak; I just don't get it…"

Marlene smirked. "This is no time for jokes, Cloud. Grey, you say? Good. What happened, completely?"

"Well, I was getting to that." He then described everything as well as he possibly could. As soon as he got to the part about Chaos apparently capturing the person who had saved them, Marlene looked away, her expression sad and worried. Cloud quickly finished up his story, and Tifa just stared at him.

"…Seriously? How are we going to fight Chaos when the time comes, then?"

"I'm not quite certain. I was hoping Marlene might know, but I doubt that even she does. I may be able to pull it off, but I'm going to need some serious luck. And, of course, I'm going to need all of you by my side. So… Tifa, can I at least count on you?"

Tifa nodded. "Until the end. And everyone else will say the same. I promise you that much."

Cloud smiled at her. "Thanks."

"Yeah, um, that's all nice and well," Marlene said, shaking her head and looking at Cloud. "But that battle won't be for a while. Meanwhile, we have a much more pressing issue, or at least I think so. What did Chaos say to the person before he grabbed them?!"

Cloud thought for a moment, knowing that she was probably right. "He said… 'I thought you would have learned by now… but it seems that I was wrong. Perhaps I need to remind you why you shouldn't ever betray me.' I'm fairly certain that that was exactly it, actually."

Marlene swallowed hard. "That's… not good. How long has it been, since they left?"

"I don't know… about an hour and a half? Maybe a bit more?" He glanced at the clock, which told him it was just past eight. It was already dark outside, and Cloud himself felt like it was past midnight. Had fighting Chaos truly drained him so much…?

Marlene nodded. "Then… I hope he's not still… No, there's no way even he could be so cruel." She nodded. "Cloud, you should probably get some sleep; you'll need it."

"Wait wait wait, what?" Cloud asked, shaking his head. "Before you tell me to go do nothing, do you mind telling me what your little epiphany there was about? Is the person who saved us dead or not?"

"No, they're not dead. I don't think that they are, at least. They should be fine, with a bit of time. Now, if you want to help them at all, you'll _get some sleep_. You're going to need to work against Chaos as much as you can in order to weaken him before the final battle, even slightly. And you can't do that if you don't have any energy. Got it?"

"Alright, alright. At least, tell me… do you have any more secrets that we should know about?"

She smirked. "Maybe, maybe not. But, if I do, it's nothing bad. Anything I may or may not know won't harm you in any way; not anymore. Alright?"

"Alright. I just wanted to make sure. By the way… Sorry to ask, Marlene, but do your Cetra friends know where Jenova is? I don't care about her, but I want to make sure that she's not planning something behind our backs."

Marlene nodded slightly, an odd look in her eyes. "Yes, one of them does. The other is focused on something else, so I haven't heard from her in a while." She smirked. "But, don't worry. She's not doing anything to hurt you right now. Trust me on that…"

"How… cryptic."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm not really too involved in everything myself, and I won't have much of a part in the final battle, which is why I'm the perfect person to know so much. But trust me now when I say that I have my reasons for being so cryptic. There are many things that I don't know, and I don't want to compromise anything that I don't know by doing something that I shouldn't."

"Oh, alright, I suppose that makes… some sense. So… good night, I guess?"

Tifa nodded. "I'm coming with you. I think we should all get our rest. Marlene, you're coming as well, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course."

Tifa nodded, and started upstairs. Cloud and Marlene followed. Cloud and Tifa went into their room, closing the door and not seeing what Marlene did now that she could do whatever she wanted.

Cloud sighed, putting his sword down next to his bed. "Do you think she actually went into her room and is going to fall asleep…?"

"No, not at all. But I hope she does, soon. She may know a lot, but she should realize that we're just as much a part of this as she is…"

Cloud nodded. "Exactly." He sighed, turning off the lights. "Well, good night, I suppose…"

He and Tifa both got ready for bed, but Cloud knew that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep no matter how tired he was. He just laid in bed, awake and thinking, for hours. And he thought that that was how it would continue for the entire night. But, of course, nothing ever went as planned.

A bit after two a.m., Cloud was just staring at the wall, thinking about what could happen next. However, the next thing he knew, every last bit of his energy was gone in an instant. Within maybe a second, Cloud fell into unconsciousness, wondering what could have possibly happened.

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**A/N: Oh hey, look, another author's note. They're taking over. Awww, I remember when I said that I was going to only put author's notes in very rarely, and those would be short. HAH, good one, me. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I apologize that the beginning of this chapter moved pretty quickly, as I just kind of started writing and let the story go its own way. That's normally what I do, after all. And please, feel free to review with suggestions about what I should do with the story or even what I might want to go back and change. I'm going to stop now before I go on forever, so I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	30. The Summoned

**-Disclaimer- I don't own anything in this except my own ideas.**

**A/N: Merry Christmas, guys! And, although I don't think they're today, happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule, and Eid! And… anything I may have missed, happy that, too! I wanted to put in a holiday chapter, but I couldn't really think of anything… maybe next Time. For now, though, happy holidays!**

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_**The Summoned**_

When Cloud finally woke up, his head hurt and he felt like he hadn't gotten any sleep. He sat up slowly, looking around and half expecting to see Jenova somewhere. She was the only one that ever drained him, after all. But… she had never taken every bit of his energy and she had never taken so much energy at once. So, if it _had _been her, why had she been so desperate all of a sudden…?

Cloud shook his head, slowly getting out of bed. His every muscle ached, but he quickly got ready for the day anyways. Slowly but surely, his energy started returning to him.

Cloud quickly grabbed his sword and snuck out of 7th Heaven without being seen, placing the sword back in Fenrir. He then snuck back into 7th Heaven, walking over to Tifa and Marlene. Marlene had just sent Denzel to go help the customers, as she had seen Cloud.

Cloud sighed. "I need to get going… If either of you know of anything that happens, will you please call me?"

Tifa nodded. "We will. We promise."

Marlene nodded as well. "If I hear anything from either of my friends, I'll tell you."

Cloud sighed. "Thanks. And no more holding back, alright?"

"Don't worry, Cloud. I won't hold back anything."

Cloud nodded, looking around. He knew she wouldn't be able to keep that promise from more than a minute, but at least it was something. "Alright, thanks."

Tifa paused and pulled Cloud off to the side, where Marlene couldn't hear them. "Er, Cloud? By the way, we were right. Marlene didn't go back up into her room last night when we went upstairs… in fact, she didn't go into her room at all last night. I found her passed out on the floor this morning."

"…Wait, what?!"

"Yeah. I woke her up as quickly as I could, and she seemed slightly dazed. But she said that she knew what had happened and that she was fine, so I didn't question her too much."

"…Well, maybe she'll talk to me…"

Cloud walked over to Marlene. "Hey, Marlene… Why were you down here last night? And why did you pass out?"

She sighed. "I was down here last night because I was trying to contact either of my friends. Neither of them even acknowledged me… I'm starting to get worried, honestly. One of them has been gone since the day before yesterday, and the other has been oddly quiet for nearly a week now…" She sighed. "Anyways… at around maybe two a.m., I just suddenly kind of passed out."

"…You, too?! Tifa said that you said you knew why… so, why?"

"Oh, uh… I was just kind of, uh, bluffing. I don't actually know why. I have theories, but I want to be certain first. I'll try to talk to my friends, and see if either of them know why. I'm fairly certain that they will."

"Alright… Well, I don't have time to argue with you right now, so I hope you're telling me the truth. I'll see you later, alright?'

Marlene nodded. Cloud waved at Tifa, who smiled at him. Cloud then walked out of 7th Heaven, leaping on Fenrir and taking off towards Midgar.

Cloud pulled to a stop in a clearing of the destroyed city, looking around. "Hey, Sephiroth! Are you there?" he called out, looking around.

"Of course I am," Sephiroth said from behind Cloud, making Cloud jump slightly. Sephiroth walked out in front of Cloud, smirking. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Cloud shook his head, still slightly unaccustomed to seeing his old enemy back in his normal look. But that didn't matter right now. "Never mind. Did you find Jenova?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I was out looking until around maybe two in the morning, when, for some reason, I randomly passed out. Otherwise I wouldn't have stopped looking."

"Wait… you passed out, too? So did I, and so did Marlene. Let me guess; you were fine, and then suddenly every last bit of your energy was gone?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it."

"Do you think Jenova had something to do with it?"

"I'm ninety-nine percent certain that, yes, she did."

"But… why? Where is she…? And why would she need so much energy so suddenly?"

"I don't know. But I haven't heard from her since before yesterday, and I haven't seen her since… wow, Nibelheim. I just realized that. Anyways, I'm starting to actually get slightly worried, to be honest."

"Well, worry no longer." This time, both Cloud and Sephiroth jumped at the voice behind them, turning around to face Jenova.

"Oh, _finally_! Where _were _you?!" Sephiroth said, shaking his head.

Jenova sighed. "That's not important for either of you to know. Now, why were you both trying to contact me so much, exactly?"

"Well, to find out where you were, of course. You've never disappeared completely for an entire day when there's something important going on…"

Jenova shook her head. "I had my own things to do. You can handle things without me, can't you?"

Cloud paused. "You've missed multiple opportunities to taunt us. There must be something wrong with you. What happened while you were gone?"

She smirked at them. "Honestly? I apologize for being slightly distant; I just have other things on my mind at the moment. Or have you not realized what's going on?"

"No, we have, but… why do you care? Doesn't that mean you're winning?"

"I suppose that's true, isn't it? I don't know. Some of the beings Chaos brought back aren't exactly my allies, so I must admit that I don't want to work alongside them."

"Like?"

"…Never mind. You'll find out soon. Chaos doesn't want me telling you yet. He wants to see what you'll do without even knowing who these people are."

Sephiroth smirked. "Since when do you do everything Chaos tells you…?"

"Since always," she snapped at him.

Sephiroth took a step back, looking slightly alarmed. "…Okay…"

Cloud couldn't help but know that something was off with Jenova. First off, she was acting strangely. At least, she was acting more strange than she normally did. This wasn't just her normal playful/serious personality switch… something was wrong. Cloud couldn't exactly describe it, but she just seemed… tense, maybe? Agitated? Perhaps both?

Also, it wasn't just her personality that was different. Cloud noticed that something about her appearance was off. He had seen her briefly only about a week before all of this had happened, and she just looked… _different_, somehow. Then, though, Cloud finally realized what it was.

"Hey, Jenova…" he started. She glanced at him.

"What?"

"Er, just asking… Did you get a new outfit?"

"Huh? No. How random. Why do you care?"

Sephiroth nodded. "No, he's right. I was noticing that something was off with your appearance, and now I know what. You're outfit definitely _is _different, but… I've never seen you change it before. What happened to your other one?"

"Sheesh, guys. Nothing happened. This is my same outfit."

Sephiroth shook his head. "No, it's different. The neckline is different than the other one, if nothing else. It's at the base of your neck, now, when it used to be maybe two inches lower."

She smirked. "And you noticed that why…?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Don't you turn this on me. Besides, I didn't mean anything like that, and you know it. We were just wondering what happened to you while you were gone…"

"Nothing happened, alright? Stop asking. Don't you have more important things to do? I sure do…"

"Perhaps, but… If you're not going to tell us, should I go ask Chaos?"

"Only if you want to get murdered. He still wants to kill you because you betrayed him, you know. So I wouldn't go near him for a while if I were you. You see, this is why you _don't _betray the all-powerful evil guys, alright? Know that in the future."

Sephiroth sighed. "Fine, fine. Whatever. Anyways-" Then, though, he glanced at her warily. "Wait a minute… Did he send you after us? Is that why you're here?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, you're fine. I just wanted to see why the two of you so desperately needed me. If you don't need me, though, then I'm just going to go." Then, Cloud just barely heard her mutter something underneath her breath. "I _need _to go…"

Cloud shook his head. "Can you at least tell us why you're being so docile all of a sudden? You haven't threatened us once, and it's worrying me slightly…"

She sighed, looking away. "Fine, fine. You want the truth? Chaos's spell required a lot of energy. And I mean a _lot _of energy. He didn't want to use his own, so he used mine. That's why I'm so tired right now. But I'll be fine."

"Oh, is that why you took our energy?"

"What? I didn't take your energy. I'd only do that if I seriously needed it, lately. Which I don't. Chaos borrowed only some of my power; he'd never use more than half of it. So, I'd have no use for any of your energy right now."

"…Then who…?"

"I'm not certain, but you should probably find out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have my own things to be doing. I'm going to go ask Chaos if I can kill one of the people he brought back…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Alright, then we may see each other again soon, as Cloud and I are going to be taking out some of the people he brought back. Not that I don't want to win and everything, but I think that bringing back others is unnecessary."

Cloud nodded. "Meanwhile, I'm just going along to weaken Chaos any way I can. No point in lying about that."

Then, though, randomly, Cloud's phone rang. He looked at it and it said that it was Yuffie. He glanced at Sephiroth. "I'll be right back."

"Yeah, sure. Take your time."

Cloud walked behind a nearby building, answering the phone. "Yuffie? Is everything alright?"

"_No, Cloud. It's not. Where's Jenova? I don't think she'll want me to tell you this."_

"She can't hear me. _By the way,_ thanks for telling me about Sephiroth having his memories and all. I mean, seriously! Marlene I'd expect, but you? Really?!"

"_Uh, sorry? I told Vinnie about it, but I wasn't supposed to tell you…"_

"When did you tell Vincent?!"

"_Yesterday," _Vincent said.

"Wait, Vincent? What are you…? So you told _Vincent, _but not me, Sephiroth's main enemy?!"

"… _Well, I-" _But Cloud didn't let her finish.

"Honestly, Yuffie! Did you forget that I'm always the one who has to stop him? Didn't you think that maybe I wanted to know that he was still perfectly capable of killing me, like he normally likes to do?! You're so lucky that he knows that we have more important things to be doing, because this could have turned out badly, thanks to you!"

"_Well, Marlene knew, too!_"

"Wait, you talked to Marlene about it?! Do you know as much as she does, then?!"

"_No, I don't. But seriously, Cloud! We have more important things to be talking about!"_

Cloud sighed. "Fine. What?" He planned on berating her more once she was done talking, of course, but maybe she _did _actually have something important to say…

"_Well-" _Yuffie began, but she didn't get to finish.

"Ack!" Cloud cried out as he was suddenly flung to the ground.

"_Cloud?! Are you alright?!" _Cloud heard Yuffie and Vincent both say faintly from his nearby phone.

Cloud tried to stand up, but Jenova – he could tell it was her – put a foot on his back to keep him down. It actually hurt quite a bit now that, as he had noticed, she was finally wearing shoes. They were similar to what Jenna had been wearing the first time Cloud had met her.

Jenova grabbed Cloud's phone with her other hand, holding it up to her ear. At least, Cloud assumed that that was what happened, as he couldn't see her very well at the moment. "Hello, Vincent and Yuffie."

"_J-Jenova?!" _Cloud heard them both say at the exact same time.

"Yes. Cloud's fine, since you're wondering." She finally walked away from Cloud, allowing him to stand up before she finished her sentence. "However, neither of_ you_ will be if you tell him what you were going to. It doesn't matter what you did; nobody can know. Do you understand me? …No, he doesn't, alright? …Yes, I am. Don't try to understand; trust me, I have my reasons. More than you may think you know about, now. …No, you can't. …No, it wasn't. …Heh, maybe I am. But trust me when I say that I know exactly what I'm doing. …Yes, you should. Expect to see me soon, though." She then hung up the phone, flinging it back to Cloud. "Ask them about what they were trying to say, and you're dead. Got it?"

He nodded. "Got it. At least you're back to threatening people again…"

She smirked at him and started to walk away. "Wait," he said, reaching out and grabbing her arm. Strangely, she winced away from him, as though he had hurt her somehow. She glared at him, annoyed.

"What? I need to get out of here… And by that, of course, I mean that I, uh, have things to do…"

"…Okay… Well, I _was _going to ask something else, but… are you alright? Is your arm injured or something?"

"What? Oh, no. No, it's not. I just don't like people touching me. What else were you going to say?"

"I was just going to ask… Yesterday, when Chaos was attacking me and Sephiroth saved me, someone saved _him_, by jumping in front of him. But… we don't know who it was."

"…Oh? What did they look like?" Her voice was monotonous, but she looked quite confused.

"…I thought Chaos told you what happened? Never mind. Anyways, I didn't see what they looked like, because they were wearing a grey cloak. Sound like anyone you know?"

She paused. "Grey…? You're sure…? Everyone I know – including myself – has either a black or white cloak. I've never seen a grey one… unless… the Guardian, perhaps? She'd want to stand out…"

"That's what I was thinking. But… Chaos grabbed them and disappeared. Do you… do you know what happened to them?"

"You mean to ask if your savior is still alive, right? In that case… yes, they're still alive, more or less."

"And by 'more or less', you mean…?"

She smirked, a dark look in her eyes. "What do you _think _that means? Chaos doesn't like his more powerful enemies very much. Whether that person was the Guardian or not, they're not in very good shape right now…" She shook her head unhappily, an odd look in her eyes. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. I _need_ to go… I'll see you later…"

Without another word, she disappeared. Cloud sighed, walking back out to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth shook his head. "Are you alright? Jenova seemed to be listening to your conversation from here, and then she just got a weird look in her eyes and ran after you."

Cloud shrugged. "I _think_ I'm alright… Vincent and Yuffie were trying to tell me something important, but Jenova didn't seem to like it. Apparently, if I try to find out what happened, she's going to kill me."

"Well, if nothing else, she's giving out death-threats again. That's a good sign, right?"

"More or less, yeah. But something's wrong with her… more than usual, I mean."

"Yeah, I noticed. Also, while you were gone, I think she was trying to avoid me. She was staying away from me, and kept on glancing over at me like she thought I was going to attack her…"

"That's… odd… Did she say anything?"

"Not a thing."

"…Did you do anything to her that would make her afraid of you…?"

"Not at all. It's quite the other way around, to be perfectly honest." He paused. "Now that I'm thinking about that, actually… besides that one point where she was being chased by chocobos, that was the last time I saw her before today. I wonder if that has anything to do with whatever is happening now…"

"Uh… do explain?"

"Well, let's just say that she tends to take her anger out on me. All the time, too. Like, every week, about. But it's been more than a month since she last attacked me… I'm just wondering if perhaps that's starting to affect her at all. Not taking her anger out on anyone, I mean."

"Well, how do you know she isn't?" Cloud said, not completely surprised by the fact that Jenova would attack Sephiroth at times. But taking out her anger…? Her anger towards what or who…? "After all, she seemed to know that that person from yesterday had been harmed… Perhaps Chaos let Jenova loose on them?"

Sephiroth winced. "I sure hope not, but you may be right. It's really the only explanation…"

Cloud nodded, realizing something. "Yeah. When I was asking her about what had happened, she got a weird look in her eyes. She probably felt somewhat guilty."

"Jenova? Feel guilty about hurting someone? Hah! No, she's probably just depressed that she didn't get to kill whoever it was…"

Cloud shrugged, looking around to make sure that Jenova wasn't watching them, at least physically. "Actually, you're probably right…" He sighed. "Well, we can't think about it. At least, not now. Both Jenova and Marlene said that whoever it is is alive, and Marlene told me that they'll be fine. So, for now, we need to focus on what's right in front of us: whoever it is that Chaos summoned."

Sephiroth nodded. "True. But… where do we start looking? How will we know if we've found one of the people Chaos brought back…?"

"Well, it should be pretty easy…" someone said from a nearby building, making Cloud jump.

Sephiroth sighed. "Oh, hello, Genesis…"

"Hmm? Is something wrong?" Genesis asked, jumping down from the nearby building. He paused, though, and glanced at Cloud. "By the way… did Yuffie tell you anything recently?"

Cloud nodded. "About you and your friend? Yeah, but she didn't tell me who you were with or where either of you were, only to be careful."

Genesis smirked slightly. "Well, that's probably best. This guy isn't exactly an ally of yours… either of yours, really. And he's pretty powerful. He's the one who told me about what happened yesterday." Genesis paused. "And, Sephiroth… He _does _know Jenova quite well, apparently."

Sephiroth looked confused. "As an enemy or not?"

"Mmmm… that's complicated. I'll leave it up to him to say. But he did tell me something very… _interesting _about her. Something that may be her downfall, when the time comes. For now, though, I need to make absolutely certain…" He looked around. "You hear that, Jenova? I know your secret… And I _will _use your weakness against you."

_**No time. You guys need to get to the Shinra building… I was right about one of Chaos's summoned friends.**_

Cloud could tell that Sephiroth and Genesis had heard her as well. Sephiroth shook his head. "Who is it?"

_**Didn't you hear me? There's no time to explain. Something's very wrong here… What's that…? Wait a minute… Get here! Now!**_

Cloud felt her presence slip from his mind, and sighed. "Well, that's just great… Now, we don't even know what we're up against, but whoever it is worries _Jenova._ And she expects us to fight this guy?"

Genesis shrugged. "I guess so. Shouldn't be too hard, though. It's the three of us against one person. Plus, if Jenova helps, we have an even better chance. I don't _want _her help, but, if we nearly lose, at least we know we'll have backup… maybe."

Sephiroth glanced at him. "You're coming, too?"

Genesis shrugged. "I might as well. She spoke to all of us for a reason, right? Plus, I still need to figure out if my ally was right… Minerva will probably know, but she's been strangely quiet for… I think it's been about a week, actually…"

Cloud paused, and then nodded, walking over to Fenrir. "Alright, then. So, I suppose the three of us will probably have to be working together a lot now, huh?"

Sephiroth nodded, smirking slightly. "Like it or not, yeah. Now, I don't think there's really any time to talk, so we need to get going…"

Cloud nodded. "I suppose I'll meet you guys there, then. You know, since I can't fly or anything…"

Genesis nodded, doing exactly that and heading towards the Shinra building. Sephiroth watched after him. "You know, for someone who hates Jenova, he sure loves to use her abilities…"

Cloud nodded. "I know, I was _just _thinking that. He should really pick a side…"

Sephiroth glanced at him. "You have some of her cells in you, too, you know…"

"Yes, but I can't use any of her abilities. Even if I could, I wouldn't."

Sephiroth shrugged. "Fair enough. Alright… see you there?"

Cloud nodded, jumping on Fenrir. "Yeah, see you there." He then took off towards the abandoned tower without another word, wondering what he could possibly be up against.


	31. Old Enemies

**-Disclaimer- I own nothing that I used. Do I have to say this every Time…?**

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**A/N: First off… Happy 2013, everyone! Er, or, just in case… Survive 2013, everyone! **

_**Yeah, from me, too! We survived the twenty-first and all eight resets, so this year can't be that much harder, right? **_

**A/N: …Yeah, what she said, even though she was _supposed to be quiet_. Anyways... Hope you guys all have a great year! Sorry it's a bit late, but still… Happy New Year! Oh, and sorry for the short chapter; I'm awful at writing fight scenes…**

_**No matter how well I tell them.**_

**A/N: Shhhh, I can't erase that now that it's written! Um, just ignore that bit, readers... …Man, I want my own husky, now…**

_**No. No, you don't. I haven't had good experiences with huskies… **_

**A/N: But… but… You kind of have-**

_**Shut up, that's different. And, I suppose, if nothing else, they **_**are _smart dogs... Smarter than yours normally is, anyways..._**

**A/N: Hey! Reina's smart! ...  
**

**_...She just grabbed your mini trashcan and dragged it away so that she could get the paper plate that's in it 'without us knowing'. That's exactly what she just thought, right now...  
_**

**A/N: ...Point taken. ...And, uh, by 'that's what she thought', you meant that it was obvious in her eyes. Right?!  
**

_**Oh, yeah, right. I'm a normal human, just like you completely are. Anyways!**** Story! Go, readers!**_

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_**Old Enemies**_

Cloud quickly made his way to the tower. It looked quite worse for the wear, but he didn't doubt that somebody could be hiding in it. Who, though…? Somebody who knew the tower well, probably. Which just begged the question: who all had Chaos summoned…? Well, Cloud was about to find out, that was for sure…

Finally, Cloud pulled to a stop in front of the ruined entrance to the building. Was it even safe to go in there…? Well, there was really no time to think about it, so…

Cloud sighed, turning off Fenrir and pulling out his sword. He had started keeping the Fusion Swords together lately, since he always needed to be ready for a major battle, it seemed.

"About time…" Genesis said, walking up to him. "Where's-"

"Right here," Sephiroth said from nearby, quickly walking over to them. "You guys ready? We don't know who or what we'll have to face in there…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Genesis shrugged. "Same. Now let's get in there and see who had the brilliant idea of messing with Jenova, shall we?"

Sephiroth smirked. "Very true. Yeah, let's go. I can't really think of who it could be, which is why I'm so eager to find out…"

The three of them made their way into the building, looking around the ruined lobby. Genesis smiled slightly. "Ah, I remember when I had been the one making it look like this…"

Sephiroth glanced at him. "By the way, I never got to ask you… How did you get all of that machinery under your control? You always seemed to have some sort of robot at your disposal… how?"

Genesis shrugged. "Well, Hollander always had a few tricks up his sleeve, but the main reason was Minerva. Zack probably figured that out by now, since he fought her once and her very presence was freaking out any of Shinra's robotics that were nearby. We've been… 'working together' for a while, ever since she figured out just how ambitious I was and just how much I knew. You see, since she's the Lifestream itself, she would automatically cause any mako-powered machinery to go haywire by simply being nearby – and, as you very well know, everything had been run by Mako at that point. Everything that happened afterwards is quite hard to explain, so I won't try."

"Okay… And why did you say 'working together' like you did?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn't even know she was aiding me at first. I didn't put the pieces together for quite a while, actually."

"Ah. Okay, then. Now… What floor are we going to, exactly?"

Cloud shrugged. "Well, whichever it is, we're going to have to take the stairs. The elevators are obviously not functioning anymore…"

Sephiroth nodded. "That's probably best. That way, we can check each floor on the way up. I'll try to find Jenova's aura, but she's always hidden if from me for some reason."

Genesis shrugged. "Instead of looking for Jenova's aura, try looking for the other person's. Not only will it help to find them, but it will probably also tell us who we're facing."

"Oh, okay. That's probably true. Alright, I'll do that."

"Yeah. And tell us if Jenova says anything to you, alright?"

"Got it."

The three of them then started up the nearby staircase. Parts of the stairs were destroyed, so they all had to make certain to not fall. Once, a weak part of the stairs actually fell underneath them, but they were all able to get back to the stable part of the staircase before any of them were injured.

Finally, they reached the floor beneath the old science lab. Sephiroth paused. "Wait… There's someone around here." He took off, running into the room that held the elevator up to Hojo's old lab. Cloud and Genesis had no choice but to follow. Sephiroth looked around when they were all there. "I can definitely sense two different auras – one familiar, one not. Then there's a third, but I don't think it's even remotely human; seems more like a smaller animal of some sort. There's a fourth that keeps on flickering in and out, but it never stays long enough for me to actually tell that it's truly there. So that one must be Jenova. But… why is she having issues protecting her aura?"

Cloud shook his head. "Maybe she's too focused on who she's fighting?"

"I'd think so, but she's normally still able to keep her aura hidden even while she's focused on something or someone. The only thing I can think of is that she's either expending too much energy… or she's greatly weakened, which is something I never thought I'd see."

Genesis shrugged. "Makes sense that she'd be worried about this person, then. Can't we just let them take care of her and _then _go kill them? It'd sure solve quite a lot of issues."

Cloud sighed. "As much as I agree with you that that would probably be best in the end, I have a feeling that offing Jenova before the final battle will probably shake up the very fragile layout of everything going on. Which none of us can afford."

"Well, yes, that's definitely true. But wouldn't it probably tip the scales in our direction?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know how this universe works, but, to be perfectly honest, we always seem more likely to win when everything seems impossible. The side that starts out with the better chance of winning normally loses."

Genesis sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's probably true. But-"

Sephiroth shook his head. "We're not letting Jenova die, Genesis." Cloud barely heard him mutter something. "…At least, not yet." Whose side was he on…? Well, that was probably pretty good, actually. It seemed that Jenova didn't have as strong a hold over Sephiroth as she thought…

Genesis shrugged. "Fine, whatever. You're probably right, anyways. I suppose I have a lot riding on her survival as well… But at least this proves that she's not impossible to defeat, as we all obviously thought. Right?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. Now, we'd better find them before our conversation kills her… and us, too."

Sephiroth nodded. "Oh, right. Well, Jenova and one other person are right-"

There was a large crash on the floor just above them. Sephiroth looked up. "Right above us, as I was saying. The third is slightly above them… probably on the catwalks."

Cloud nodded. "Alright. The elevator better work here, otherwise, we'll have no way to get up…" He started to walk over to it, but then glanced over at a large machine/container by the door they had just come through. He smirked slightly, recognizing the place where Jenova had been held when she was still partially comatose, after the Nibelheim incident. "Hmm… I bet she wasn't too happy to see that…"

Genesis grinned. "No, I'd assume not."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Let's go…"

Cloud shrugged. "Fine, fine, whatever." They all walked into the elevator. Luckily, it still worked, carrying them up to the next floor. Unfortunately, it was quite loud. If their presence had been unknown before, it sure wasn't now…

When the elevator door opened, Cloud didn't see anyone at first. Then, he saw some kind of dog lying on the floor nearby with its eyes closed. It was mostly black, with some white as well and a few grey markings on its legs. Cloud looked around, but there was nobody else.

_**He… got away…**_

Sephiroth nodded. "The second we got up here, too. If only we had been a bit quicker…"

_**No… He would have stayed here for a while longer, if he hadn't known you were… here. Next time… be quieter.**_

Cloud smirked. "Will do. Now, um…?"

_**What?**_

"Where-"

"Wait," Sephiroth said, taking a few steps forward. "Only one of the auras left…" He looked up quickly. "Get behind something!"

Cloud, Genesis, and Sephiroth all dove behind different pieces of machinery; and just in time, too. Right then, a large blast was launched at right where they had just been.

Then, a huge man leapt down from the rafters. Cloud recognized him immediately from the battle with Deepholm; with his glowing yellow eyes and blue tattoos, not to mention his unusual height, he was hard to mistake. Genesis obviously knew him, too.

"Azul?!" Genesis said, stunned. "Why is he back?! Weiss told me that he died! He _did _die!"

Cloud shrugged. "Well, Chaos was bringing people back, remember? He must have brought back the Tsviets…" Cloud swallowed hard. "All of them… Great…"

Azul shot where Cloud was hiding. "You should really stop talking," he said. Cloud rolled his eyes, diving out of the way. Cloud landed behind Azul, next to where the dog seemed to be passed out. He heard something as he landed, though; the clink of shattered glass. He took a second to glance down and realized that he was standing on quite a lot of shattered glass, actually. What was that about…?

Sephiroth and Genesis quickly joined the fight as well. Azul turned to face all three of them, seeming to be in no real rush. "Ah, Genesis. I had forgotten about you…"

Genesis smirked. "I'd rather it stay that way, but we can't always get what we want."

"How very true." He tried to shoot at them all again, but they all dodged the attack.

"Jenova?!" Cloud said, looking around. "Any help would be appreciated, here!"

_**I can't… I'll just get you all killed… like this…**_

Genesis shook his head. "We don't need her help, anyways. We've got this, alright?"

Cloud and Sephiroth nodded. They all held their swords and leapt into battle.

Azul's attacks were powerful, but slow. He had obviously become more powerful than he had been when he had been simply working with Deepground, but not powerful enough to defeat Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis. However, the three of them couldn't kill him, either. His skin was like armor, and they could barely scrape him, no matter how hard they tried.

By the time they had done any damage to Azul, the floor of the lab was all but destroyed. Finally, with one more blast from Azul's cannon, and one more powerful strike each from Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis, the floor caved in, falling to pieces and throwing everyone to the floor beneath. The dog fell as well, but it fell behind a wall, so Cloud didn't see what happened to it. Cloud was fairly certain that he saw Jenova through the falling debris, but she angled her fall and landed near where the dog had fallen.

At first, Cloud didn't see Azul anywhere. Which couldn't be good. Sephiroth looked around. "This isn't over yet…"

Then, a large beast broke free from the nearby rubble. Genesis cursed underneath his breath. "Arch Azul! That's what Weiss called him when he was like this. Great… just great…" He shook his head. "Physical attacks won't work well enough. We'll have to use magic. But I doubt either of you have any materia…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No, but I don't need it. I don't think you do either, anymore. And Cloud can probably use basic magic without materia as well, since he's been in the Lifestream every now and then…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, that's probably true. Now, if you're done talking, we've got an incredibly advanced Behemoth here to deal with…"

Sephiroth and Genesis nodded, and started attacking Arch Azul with all of the magic they could muster. Cloud jumped in as well, using mostly physical attacks, as well as a few of the abilities he had gained from his trips to the Lifestream. However, though they did do quite a lot of damage to Arch Azul, it wasn't enough to take him down.

Genesis shook his head. "I have an idea. But…" He glanced at Sephiroth, who nodded.

_Cloud. Can you hear me?_

Cloud somehow kept from jumping at the sound of Sephiroth using telepathy, and he nodded slightly.

_Good. Genesis told me the basics, but we're just going to have to trust him with the rest._

_**You'll… probably need a bit of a distraction…**_

Cloud and Sephiroth both looked around, but didn't see her anywhere.

_**I'm in no condition to aid you, but… don't worry, you'll get help…**_

Cloud had no idea what she meant, but then he saw the dog walk out from behind the wall. It limped over in front of Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis, growling at Arch Azul. Its startlingly blue eyes shone with hatred towards the enemy in front of it.

Cloud stared at the dog. He could tell it was a husky, even though he had never seen one before, since apparently, they were all but extinct. So how had one ended up here…? "Jenova, you're sending in an injured dog to fight this guy?! How much lower could you possibly sink?!"

_**Charnauk… is not a normal dog. Even if he was, huskies are amazing fighters, able to tear even the most powerful beings… to shreds. Don't ask how I know; just… just trust me. I – I know that he'll be fine, even against… even against Arch Azul. But not if you wait much longer to put your plan into… action.**_

The dog, apparently Charnauk, looked back at them for a second, and then leapt at Arch Azul, tearing into his hide just as Jenova had said he could. Cloud noted that Charnauk had some sort of magic in his strike, which was why his attack had worked. Arch Azul roared, throwing the dog to the side. Cloud wanted to help, but he knew that he had to do whatever Genesis had in mind for the best outcome. Hopefully.

Genesis ran over to the wall and blasted it. Cloud and Sephiroth helped, starting to understand what he was doing. Finally, though, Azul took notice. Which was exactly what they needed.

Arch Azul roared, throwing Charnauk into the wall again. This time, the dog didn't get back up. But Cloud didn't have time to think about it, since Azul charged him. He, Sephiroth, and Genesis all dove out of the way, and Azul slammed into – and broke through – the wall, falling down into the rubble hundreds of feet below. The three combatants looked through the wall and saw Azul hit the ground, instantly turning into some kind of black mist and dissipating.

Cloud paused. "He wasn't real…?"

Sephiroth thought for a moment. "No… no, he was. I think that he must have dissolved into the Lifestream, so his resurrection was unstable already. Then, by being enhanced by Chaos, he just basically became a shadow. When he died, he could really only fade away."

"Oh… Oh, yeah!" Cloud ran over to Charnauk, who was lying on the ground still. Sephiroth and Genesis quickly followed. Sephiroth knelt down, petting the dog on its head.

"Jenova, are you there? Will he be alright?"

_**Who, Charnauk? Yeah, he'll be just fine. **_

Charnauk shakily stood up and, unexpectedly, ran off. Cloud followed him, leaving Sephiroth and Genesis to follow for once. The dog disappeared for a bit, but Cloud finally found him lying down next to Jenova, who was sitting against a nearby wall, breathing heavily and petting the dog. Charnauk looked as though he hadn't moved from that spot since he had fallen, which was weird. But Cloud didn't have any time to think about that, so he turned his attention to Jenova.

Cloud shook his head. "What happened to you…? And since when do you like dogs…?"

She smirked. "Since never. Ever since Antarctica, I've hated them… All of them, that is, except this one, the one that I first nearly killed. He didn't fight me because he knew what I was and why I was there, and he just looked so defeated and trapped, it reminded me of-" She stopped, sighed, and continued without finishing her sentence. "They thought I _did _kill him, but I didn't. I took control of myself, for just enough time to get enough of his blood to transform into him. Then, I teleported him here. I forgot about him, until I found him passed out in the room above us. He's lucky I got there when I did… I don't know what would have happened to him…"

"Jenova, I have absolutely no idea what you're taking about. You do know that, right?"

"Yes, I know."

"I thought so. And, my other question? What happened to you? Why couldn't you help?"

"Oh, I did. But never mind. Soon after I noticed Charnauk, I noticed that Chaos's 'friend' was working on something. I didn't get what it was at first, and I tried to remain quiet. But he had known I was there the whole time, and he had the upper hand. Then, I found out exactly what it was that he was working on when he managed to use it on me: a poison that could actually affect me."

"…Poison? Is it deadly?"

"Heh, no. You're not getting rid of me that easily. He didn't want me dead; he only wanted me to be unable to fight back. I don't even want to think about what he was going to do with me this time… Anyways, the poison blocked out most of my abilities, and greatly weakened me. I could still modify my own cells, luckily, but still… I should get my abilities back soon. Anyways, it doesn't matter. We need to get out of here before he comes back…"

Sephiroth and Genesis had finally found them. Sephiroth shook his head. "Before who comes back? Azul's dead, you know, no thanks to you…"

She grinned slyly at him. "Oh, I did more than you think. But never mind. It doesn't matter. As to who…" She sighed. "I didn't come here to fight Azul. It wasn't Azul who had almost tried experimenting on Charnauk, and it wasn't Azul who was able to concoct a poison that actually worked on me, in order to do who-knows-what to me…" She gave Sephiroth a strange look. "The first one who was here… was Hojo."

* * *

**A/N: Hey. Hey, guys. Before she gets back… I know how the story goes, but I'm thinking about maybe changing it base**d** on your opinions. So, votes?**

**1: Charnauk. Yeah, yeah, it's sort of a Who Goes There? crossover, but not really, since his character has been almost completely changed. But, anyways… Should he live or not? Or, that's pretty harsh concerning an animal, so at least, should he stay or not? The outcome will only affect Jenova, but it's pretty important. If he dies in the next chapter, it'd probably send Jenova deeper into madness. If he leaves, it'd make her sad, but not affect her too much. And if he lives and stays with her, I could probably give Jenova an actual friend, and her character may not end up so evil. I'm not sure myself, which is why I need your help. Yeah, I have my preference, obviously, but it's up to you guys on this one.**

**2: Other characters. Like Zack, Aeris, Angeal, possibly the OC Cantus, et cetera. You guys want me to bring them back and give the story a happy enough ending? I'm not saying whether or not that's how it originally ended up, but I'm torn on what I should do with them. Well, of course, one dead character is already back, but I'm not saying which. The rest is up to you guys. See ya in the next chapter! **


	32. Those Chosen by the Planet

**-Disclaimer- Nothing. I own nothing. Don't you get this yet, copyright people?**

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**A/N: Alright, let's see here… Ooh! A new reviewer! And new followers!**

_**Hi, new reviewer and new followers! Good to have you!**_

**A/N: Don't worry, new reviewer. That was the plan already… Heh. Oh, and Carley Strife, you definitely should, it's a great book. You should probably like science fiction, though. And okay, I'll keep him in. **

_**Keep who in…?**_

**A/N: Uh… Charnauk?**

_**You were going to kill off Charnauk?! **_

**A/N: …No… Uh, I was just going to make him leave?**

_**But that didn't actually happen! **_

**A/N: Uhhh… and by 'actually happen'…?**

_**Oh, never mind about that. He stays.**_

**A/N: Okay. Also, there's one thing about the readers I don't get… Why do the two chapters with the word 'chaos' in the title get higher view spikes than other chapters…? I just don't get it. I mean, they always have twice as many views as other chapters, besides maybe newer ones. It makes no sense. Anyways… Meggamonster, I'm definitely considering it. And… I think that's it for reviews. The chapter itself is mainly dialogue again, but there are a lot of small clues to huge secrets going on in the story, so keep an eye out. Okay, here we go!**

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_**Those Chosen by the Planet**_

"Wait… what?!" Sephiroth said, stunned. Jenova nodded.

"Yes. Hojo. To be perfectly honest, it should have been obvious. Who else would be using his lab…?"

Cloud shook his head. "This is no time to be joking, Jenova."

"…Who's joking…?" She sighed. "Never mind. We'll get him; don't worry about that. You've got me on your side for this one. However, I don't know if it's time yet for us to go after him."

Sephiroth stared at her. "What?! Why?!" Was she serious?! He'd go without any of the others, if he needed to.

_**No, you won't. **_

Sephiroth glanced at Cloud and Genesis, but they didn't seem to have heard her.

Jenova nodded at him. "I want my revenge on him as well. However, we don't even know where he is. Or what he's doing. I noticed that that glass cage thing of his that he kept Miss Aerith and Nanaki in is in good condition again, so he obviously _does _have plan. I just hope that he doesn't plan on capturing one of us… Anyways, we should figure it all out before we do something we'll regret."

Sephiroth glared at her. "Regret? But you don't ever regret anything. So what's the point?"

She smirked. "No, you're right. I do what I want, not caring what happens afterwards, and not caring who it happens to. However, none of you do. Well, I suppose you do, but only sometimes. Not on something so important."

Genesis nodded at Sephiroth. "As much as I hate her, she's definitely right."

Sephiroth sighed. "Fine. But we _will _kill him eventually… right?"

Genesis smiled slightly. "Yes, we definitely will. Now, on to the matters at hand…" He turned to Jenova, looking her up and down. "Are your abilities back yet?"

"Only my telepathy. And my shape shifting abilities, of course, but those can't be taken from me. Other than that, I shall admit that no, my abilities are not back." She smiled slyly at him. "But I'm still untouchable. You won't get any information from me, you know."

Genesis smirked. "I need to figure out how to hide my thoughts from you…" He took a step towards her. "But you can't exactly defend yourself, you know."

Sephiroth glanced at him. He couldn't break into Genesis's thoughts, so Genesis must have figured out how to shield them from everyone except for Jenova. Still, though, Sephiroth could basically figure out what Genesis was thinking, just by what Jenova had said: while Jenova was weakened, Genesis wanted to see if they could force her to tell them about what Chaos was planning.

_That's it, right? _Sephiroth asked, glancing discreetly at Jenova. He may not have liked her at all, but he was still on her side, technically. Genesis – and Cloud, for that matter – didn't seem to realize that.

_**Yes. But he won't succeed. **_

_How can you be sure…? Genesis can be very radical when there's something he wants… you don't know what plans he already has in action. So I wouldn't be so confident with him, if I were you. At least, not while you're like this._

Cloud shook his head. "Er… Genesis, this_ is_ Jenova you're talking about. I highly doubt that she's actually defenseless."

_**Yes, exactly what Cloud said. And don't underestimate me. It won't matter what he tries, if anything. I don't break as easily as he seems to think. Besides, it won't even get to that. I have protection.**_

_The dog?_

Genesis shrugged. "Perhaps. But she doesn't seem all too interested in defending herself right now, does she? She's not even saying anything." Sephiroth almost laughed, but didn't.

_**Yes. And you, of course, if necessary. But I doubt that it will be. Plus, I don't want you to lose their trust. They seem to think that you're entirely on their side, which isn't true.**_

Jenova smirked. "Because I feel no need to do either. I'll just let you debate amongst yourselves for the time being." She glanced at Charnauk, and Sephiroth just barely noticed the dog's ears twitch. Which meant that she was taking to the creature, and it was somehow able to understand her.

_**Switch the conversation to something more important, will you? This is getting boring.**_

Sephiroth sighed. "Right… Genesis, as much as I agree with you, that it would probably be best to see if we can get her to talk-"

_**Whose side are you on?!**_

_Just wait._

He quickly covered up his pause, making it seem as though he had intended it. "…We, unfortunately, have other important matters to deal with. We can deal with her in a minute; I doubt she'll get her powers back as quickly as she's saying she will."

Genesis nodded. "Probably true."

Cloud took over, obviously having been thinking about something for a while. Sephiroth had completely forgotten to listen to his thoughts, but knew that he was going to say what he was thinking. "You know what I just realized?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "What?"

"Chaos's allies… We know that he brought back Hojo, and the Tsviets." He shook his head. "Which, unfortunately, means _all _of the Tsviets. You know who I'm talking about?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Weiss, right?" He had watched that Deepground battle while he had been semi-conscious in the Lifestream, since he hadn't really had much else to do.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, Weiss." He turned to Genesis. "Genesis, you said earlier that Weiss had told you things… what did you mean?"

Genesis shifted uncomfortably, which seemed to gain Jenova's attention. Genesis, though, didn't seem to notice her. "Oh… Well, er… After Zack defeated me, before he, you know, went off and faced the Shinra army… Right after you two left, Deepground came and picked me up. They held me captive for a bit, asking me to aid them in defeating the Restrictors. When I declined, I managed to get beneath Midgar and seal myself away until just after the Deepground attack ended."

Cloud nodded. "In that cavern where you attacked me, right?"

"Heh, yes. There. Anyways, I was still semi-conscious, and Weiss would come in there from time to time and tell me what was happening."

Jenova smirked, but Cloud ignored her. "Ah. Okay. But now that Weiss is most likely back as well… Are we going to have to have Vincent take him out again? Could we, even? Now that it's unlikely that Chaos will be of any help, and everything…"

Genesis shook his head. "Oh, no, that won't be necessary. I'll find Weiss myself. I still have some unfinished business with him…"

"Oh, alright… And what about the other Tsviets?"

Sephiroth paused. "Well, we'll probably have to be the ones to deal with them, now that they've been enhanced by Chaos. I doubt Vincent alone would be a match for any one of them. Shelke may have to help as well, though with the three of us, I doubt it will be necessary."

Genesis nodded. "Yeah. But we can't be completely confident at all times; we don't know what each of the Tsviets – or Chaos's other allies, for that matter – are capable of. Azul seems to have become stronger physically, and his skin became nearly impossible to pierce. The others may have been enhanced in ways that leave us at a disadvantage. We really don't know." He pulled out his rapier and held it up to Jenova's throat. She seemed just as surprised as Sephiroth was, but didn't say anything. She just gave Genesis a questioning look.

Genesis nodded. "Which is why I still say we should try to get information from her while she can't fight back. At least then, we may know slightly what we're up against. It would be better than nothing."

Sephiroth glanced at Jenova. _Ideas?_

_**You really think I don't have a plan…? I doubt he'll harm me, but if he does, he'll regret it. Don't worry about me.**_

_Right…_

Sephiroth turned to Genesis. "But… are you really sure that that's the best idea?"

Cloud shrugged. "Yeah, Genesis, you may want to be rational about this. We don't know how long she'll be weakened; for all we know, she already has her abilities back, and she's just waiting."

Jenova smiled slightly, moving the point of Genesis's weapon away. "The potato is right, you know. You won't know when I can fight back; I may already be able to. Plus, I'm still a fine fighter, powers or not. Do you really want to risk yourself?"

Genesis sighed, reluctantly putting his weapon down. "But… What if we never get another chance like this…?"

Cloud paused. "As long as Hojo is still out there… I assume we will. He still obviously wants to use her, so I assume that he'll wait, and then try again. This next time, though, we'll be ready."

_**I'll be ready, too… Or do they not realize that?**_

_They don't seem to. Without your abilities, they seem to have forgotten what you can do._

Genesis nodded. "Fine." He grabbed Jenova by the top of her outfit, pulling her closer to him and glaring at her. "But I'm not through with you, alight alien? I _will _get you to talk, eventually."

Jenova only smirked. "We prefer the term 'extraterrestrial eastern-continenticans."

"…What?"

"Well, the eastern continent is the closest thing you guys have to the U.S. of A. I needed a pun, so I just went for it."

"…You greatly confuse me."

"Yes, that's the point." She was being overly confident for some reason… had she gotten her abilities back? Sephiroth also noted that Charnauk was tense, even though he still seemed to be unconscious. So perhaps that was why she was so confident; if Genesis made one mistake, she'd sic the dog on him.

Genesis rolled his eyes. He looked Jenova up and down for a second, probably trying to see if he could tell whether or not she had her abilities back. Then, though, he seemed to notice something just above her chest that would have been concealed by her new outfit had Genesis not been holding her the way he was. Sephiroth, though, couldn't see what it was that he had noticed.

Jenova smirked. "Yes, Genesis?"

Genesis shook his head. "Oh, I, um, uh… This probably looks a bit awkward, doesn't it?"

Cloud and Sephiroth both nodded, and Genesis let go of Jenova. She caught herself on the wall, standing up. She glanced at Genesis, smiling slightly. "Mind me asking what it was that you found so interesting, Genesis Rhapsodos?"

Genesis blushed. "Oh, um, I, no I… Ummm…" He covered his face with his hand. "Gah, I, um… What happened to you?"

"Oh? What do you mean?"

He put his hand by his side, giving her a questioning look. "I think you know what I mean."

"Oh, that? It was an accident."

"What, did you 'accidentally' fall onto a sword, or something?"

_Wait, what? So _that's _why you got a new outfit; you were injured somehow. Right?_

_**Barely. Like I said; er, it was an accident. It's, uh, pretty hard to explain; let's just say that, without being near you guys and drawing energy, but never sleeping either, I got pretty tired… That, plus holding my swords, plus not paying attention and tripping… Well, you can probably see where this is going… So, although he was being sarcastic, Genesis was actually right.**_

_Ah._

"Maybe I did. Why do you care?"

Genesis glanced at her. Just by the look in both of their eyes, Sephiroth could tell that they exchanged a quick mental conversation. But why was he kept out?

Jenova grinned slyly at Genesis. "Who told you that…?"

"A 'friend' of mine. Yes. Is he right?"

"Hmm… Maybe he is. What would it change, though? The circumstances are still the same, aren't they?"

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

Jenova smiled, looking at Genesis with feigned innocence. "You know, for future reference, if you know something about me, all you have to do is ask whether or not it's true. You don't have to nearly pull my outfit off… Unless, of course, that's ever actually your intention…"

Both Sephiroth and Cloud could barely keep from laughing. If nothing else, Jenova was definitely quite good at playing around with people and catching them off-guard…

But, instead of Genesis getting embarrassed, he just smiled at her, and quite obviously shot a quick mental remark to her.

Jenova froze after a moment, and then burst out laughing. "Well then, Mr. Rhapsodos! I must say, I'm impressed! Nobody has ever had such a quick comeback when it comes to one of my random comments; especially one like that!"

Genesis nodded. "Thank you, thank you very much."

Jenova shrugged. "Well then, this has been fun. Unfortunately, we should probably get out of here…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah, we should get going."

Cloud paused. "We should, but… am I the only one who feels like we're being watched?"

Genesis shook his head. "No; I feel it, too. Someone else is nearby…" He turned back to Jenova. "A friend of yours?"

She thought for a moment. "Hmm… It may be one of the Tsviets… Weiss, perhaps? He's the only one who would bother watching us and not attacking without thought." She glanced curiously at Genesis.

Genesis paused. "No, it's not Weiss. I mean, at least, that I highly doubt it. One of the others, perhaps? Nero would probably make the most sense… Or maybe Hojo is back already."

Jenova shrugged. "Possibly. Sephiroth, do you know?"

The truth was, he really didn't. He couldn't sense anyone else in the vicinity, although he _could _tell that someone was hiding their aura nearby. There were two hidden auras, actually, not counting Jenova's. But who could do that…? The only ones who could do that effectively were Jenova and that one person that had been back at Nibelheim… could it be that person, perhaps? If so, why were they here? "I don't feel anyone nearby… They must be hiding their aura, like you do."

"But… I thought only I could do that… Oh, never mind. I suppose it doesn't matter. We should probably get going before we get sucked into another battle…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. We don't want all of Chaos's allies ganging up on us at once…"

Sephiroth paused, glancing at Jenova. "By the way… are your abilities back, yet?"

She smiled slyly at him. "Why?"

"Just wondering…"

"Maybe, maybe not."

Genesis shook his head. "I'm assuming not, because she'd probably be long gone if she could teleport."

Jenova shrugged. "Probably true. At any rate, it doesn't matter. We should get going…"

"Yeah. Although, tomorrow, before anything else, I think we should do something…"

Sephiroth glanced at him. "What?"

"You'll see. For now, I'm going to go back to my friend and tell him that he was right…" He smirked at Jenova. "Your secret won't stay a secret to the others for much longer…"

She shrugged. "We'll see. It's nothing too important, so I doubt that anyone will care, though…"

He scoffed. "Not important?! Never mind…" He paused, then, thinking. "Hmmm… at least now I know why you hate the Guardian so much…"

"Indeed." She shrugged. "Ah, but it doesn't matter now. We should get out of here… This place creeps me out…"

She gently tapped Charnauk with her foot, and the dog sat up instantly. Sephiroth wondered if he had ever been asleep to start with. Then, though, he noticed something. Before the dog had gone into the battle with Azul, Sephiroth had noticed that the dog had had quite a lot of slash wounds all over his body. Everywhere except his head and neck. Sephiroth doubted that the others had noticed, because they hadn't seemed to be paying close attention. But Sephiroth remembered thinking about how there was no way the dog could have gotten all of those just from the fall, so he must have been already scratched up pretty badly even before the floor fell apart. Most of the wounds had actually seemed more like they had been caused by precise sword strikes, and Sephiroth had wondered if Charnauk had even been fighting back. Anyways, the point was, Charnauk didn't have any of those wounds now. Any of them. It was like he was a completely different dog from the one that had fought Azul. Which meant that Jenova must have healed him before Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis had found them which, in turn, meant…

Sephiroth sighed. "But… Don't you think that we should figure out who else is here…?"

Genesis shook his head. "Not until we're prepared. Why?"

"Well… I don't know, really. I just don't want any surprises…" He glanced at Jenova, who didn't seem to pick up on his meaning. She just shook her head.

"No, let's get going."

Sephiroth smirked. "What, so you can just watch us without us knowing…?"

"I can't do that without my abilities; you should know that."

"Oh, I do. Still, though…"

This was probably the first time that he knew something before she did; he didn't want to mess up. It didn't really affect what would happen or give him an advantage in any way, but at least he could probably have a bit of fun with Jenova for a minute…

Sephiroth nodded. "Alright, then. Let's get back, if we're going to be doing something important tomorrow. Jenova, since you don't have your abilities yet, you should probably come with me."

She paused. "But I- …Alright, fine… Charnauk can come, too, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Alright, good. Then let's get out of here…"

The whole group walked back down the stairs easily enough. Sephiroth noticed that Charnauk had a slight limp, but just barely. However, it was still noticeable. Why would Jenova have not healed him completely…? Something was wrong here… Also, Sephiroth would notice every now and then that Jenova would stumble and have to fall against the wall, which she always instantly winced away from. Yeah, something was _definitely _wrong here…

Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs and walked outside.

Genesis nodded. "Alright. Get some sleep… those of you that need it, at least. We're not going to be passive anymore; starting tomorrow, we're going to take the fate of the world into our hands… but to _help _it, not doom it, like some want…" He glared at Jenova, who shrugged.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, you're definitely right. We've been just watching as our world gets attacked this time. But not anymore. Let's start defending this world, just like we know we should. And we won't let… _some_… get in our way. Not anymore."

Jenova raised her hand. "I'm the 'some' you're referring to, right?"

"Of course you are."

She put her hand down. "Alright, just checking. You guys can do what you want, of course…"

_**Most of you, anyways…**_

"I don't really care. But don't expect me to not stalk you…"

Sephiroth glanced at her. "Of course…"

Genesis nodded. "Alright, then. We are the ones to do this… We are the ones that were chosen by the Planet. We can't fail." He summoned his one wing and took off.

Cloud nodded after a moment, glancing at Jenova and Sephiroth. "I'm expecting you two to not destroy anything while I'm gone… Can I at least trust you for tonight?"

Jenova shrugged. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She patted Charnauk on the head.

Sephiroth smirked. "Don't worry, Cloud; I'll keep a close eye on her until she gets her abilities… back…"

Cloud leapt on Fenrir, turning it on. "Alright… Let's try to get to tomorrow without death, alright? See you guys later…" He took off back towards 7th Heaven, leaving Jenova and Sephiroth alone.

Jenova nodded. "Alright, well, let's go," she said, turning around and starting to walk off.

"Not so fast," Sephiroth said, grabbing her arm. She visibly winced and pulled away from him, glancing back at him with an irritated look. Sephiroth was slightly curious, though, as to why she had acted as she had. He had – although he wouldn't admit it – been watching when Jenova had taken Cloud's phone earlier, and he remembered the same thing happening when Cloud had grabbed her arm. But… it had been her other arm… Something just didn't seem right here, as always…

"What now…?" Jenova muttered, looking away from him.

He smirked, just deciding to go along with his original plan for now. "Well…" He pulled out Masamune, pointing it at her. She took a step back, alarmed. Charnauk growled at Sephiroth, but waited for Jenova to give him an order.

"Eh?! What do you think you're doing…?"

He smirked. "Well, you can't fight me, right? Perhaps it's time I got my revenge on you."

"Uh, not going to happen, sorry. I have places to be…"

"Perhaps, but if you don't have your abilities, then what's the point, right?"

"…Hmph. I'm warning you, though…"

She obviously expected him to step down, so she was probably quite surprised when he actually tried to hit her. He didn't intend to actually land the blow, of course, but she didn't know that. Jenova, surprised, teleported behind him, throwing him to the ground with little effort, but only because he let her. Charnauk leapt on top of him, holding him down. Jenova froze.

"Uh, I…"

Sephiroth laughed. "Yes, I knew you had your abilities back. That was just the first time I had known something before you did, and wanted to play around with you a bit."

"Ah, I see. Seems you're learning quite well, aren't you?" She nodded at Charnauk, who stepped off of Sephiroth, allowing him to stand up, which he quickly did.

"When did you get your abilities back, by the way? I just want to know how much danger we were in…"

She smiled slyly. "I never lost my abilities. Hojo's poison weakened me, yes, although that's worn off by now. And, had I not interrupted him, he would have been able to finish the poison, which _would _have taken my abilities away for a bit. But, I showed up sooner than he had expected, so he didn't have time to finish. Which is why Genesis is _incredibly _lucky that you stepped in before he attacked me."

"Yeah, I guess so…" He paused. "And that poison... is there any of it left up in the lab?"

"Yeah, I'd assume so... Why...?"

"Well, just wondering. You have quite a lot of enemies, and you never know; one of them may find it and figure out how to finish it..."

She gave him a warning glare. "_They _better not, or _they'll_ regret it quite quickly..."

He shrugged, smiling slightly. "Yeah, I know."

Jenova nodded. "By the way... How did you find out that I wasn't powerless?"

"Quite easily, actually. Charnauk had had quite a lot of wounds before battling Azul that he doesn't have anymore. Which means you must have healed him."

She looked away. "No, I didn't heal Charnauk. Healing spells can leave traces behind, and, in trying to keep up my charade, I wouldn't have wanted to have given any of you the chance to pick up on the residue of the spell."

"Well, did he heal himself or something?"

"Of course not. You… must have been seeing things. Anyways, it doesn't matter. I should get out of here… I can't be left alone with you, while I'm like this. So I'll see you later."

"While you're like what…?"

She smirked at him. "Going through withdrawal, of course." Without even explaining, both she and Charnauk disappeared.

Sephiroth paused. Withdrawal…? Withdrawal from what…? And what did that have to do with him? Did she not want to snap and attack him, or something? She had never cared before, so he found that unlikely. What, then…?

It was just one mystery after the other…


	33. Haunted

_-Disclaimer- I own nothing. Do I always have to do this…?_

* * *

_**Oh, yeah, this part…**_

**A/N: Normally I go first… What's wrong with this part of the story?**

…_**Well, you know, with everything that they say about m- ahem, Jenova… And with everything that **_**she **_**did in the past, but for **_**good reason, **_**at least I think so… Oh, never mind… Hmm… Midgar… Midgard… Asgard… Do I remind you of Loki?**_

**A/N: Oh my goddess, yes. What's with the randomness?**

_**Sorry, just watched Thor… **_

**A/N: Oh, yeah, duh, I watched it with you… Anyways! Sorry about the lateness again; I've been writing my own story down, and haven't had Time to review this one, like I like to do before she publishes it. And… The readers don't care. So that's really it. Anyways, readers, this is a pretty important part of the story, so pay attention. Seriously... If you want to figure out some secrets, PAY ATTENTION to some of the earlier dialogue... One of the characters says something they're not supposed to... And sorry, it's a bit dark if you read between the lines… Actually, these next few chapters are just getting darker and darker, aren't they…? In a couple of chapters is actually that one really dark part that I was asking about earlier… Not my fault; blame her.**

_**How is it my fault…? **_

**A/N: Seriously...?**

**_Oh_,**_** never mind… **_

**A/N: Oh yeah, and just so you guys know, this chapter is mostly discussing Jenova. So are the next few chapters.**

_**What's so bad about that…?**_

**A/N: Oh, nothing. I was just saying that.**

_**Alright… By the way… Wasn't your friend somewhere stalking us in this chapter…? **_

**A/N: Yes, he was stalking **_**them**_**.**

…_**Oops…**_

**Who was I stalking? I assume you were talking about me, since I'm the only one who stalks around here…**

_A/N: Oh! Hey! Aw, what happened to the font…?_

**Hehe… Although, whenever you write **_**our**_** story, why is my telepathy in_ her_ font…?**

_**Because I'm awesome.**_

_A/N: Right… That'll change near the end, but for now, I need to differentiate between you and Akuma._

**Ah, true.**

_A/N: Anyways… This was when you guys were in Korsanth._

**Oh yeah! Heh, I remember that… I freaked Cloud out, which was quite fun…**

_**Yeah, you did, although he'll never admit it… Anyways, isn't this getting a bit long…?**_

_A/N: Yeah, you're right. Okay readers, to the story!_

* * *

_**Haunted**_

Cloud woke up, surprisingly, before anyone else. But that was probably best; he didn't want anyone to worry. Or… _did _he wake up before anyone else…? Probably not, actually. He quickly and quietly made his way out of his room, walking to Marlene's room and listening.

"Eh?" Marlene asked. "What's that?"

"The-" Then, she was silent. Cloud knew that voice instantly; it was the voice of that one woman who seemed to be _everywhere_. Cloud quickly walked into the room to see what was going on.

Marlene was the only one in the room, now. She obviously knew he had been coming, because she was leaning over-casually against the wall with her satchel hastily thrown over her shoulder so that it had gotten caught in her hair and was only partially closed. "Heyyyy, Cloud! What are _you _doing up _so _early…? Seriously, what?"

Cloud smirked. "I… don't know. I was wondering if you did, though."

"Whaaaaaat? Psh, no… Maybe… Okay, sort of. But hey, guess what! My other friend finally started talking to me again! She actually returned yesterday, but she was still talking to me today, so that's good."

"Yes, I heard."

She looked worried. "How much did you hear?"

"I heard 'What's that' and 'The' and then silence."

"Oh, okay, good. _That _could have ended badly…"

"…Right. Well, I'm going to wherever, so… I'll see you later, I guess…" Without waiting for her to answer, he turned and walked away, going downstairs and outside.

Cloud started up Fenrir and headed towards Midgar. The sun had just only risen and was casting a fiery glow over both cities. The serenity of the scene belied the terrible truth of what Cloud knew was really going on.

"Hey, Jenova, is Genesis there already? And Sephiroth?"

_**Not yet, **_she said, surprising Cloud with how quickly she had responded. _**Give me a second…**_

He nodded. "Alright."

The transition of new dawn to day was nearly complete when Cloud pulled to a stop in Midgar. He looked around the nearby alleyways, but all was quiet. At least, at first it was, until Genesis landed nearby. He looked over at Cloud.

"Oh good, I thought I would have to wait. Did Jenova tell you to come here as well?"

Cloud shook his head. "Nah, I was actually the one who told her to get you guys. Although, I wonder where Sephiroth is…"

Genesis shrugged, looking around. "Well, we'll probably see them soon."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, probably. Where are we going, by the way?"

Genesis looked around again. He started to say something, but then, Sephiroth came out into the clearing as well. He looked at the both of them. "Am I late…?"

Cloud shook his head. "Not at all. Where's Jenova?"

"Up here!" she called from the top of a nearby building, making the party of three look up at her. She leapt down from the building, slowing her fall before she hit the ground. "We going or what? You didn't need to wait for me."

Cloud shrugged. "True, but it's good to know that you're here bothering us rather than off killing someone…"

Genesis smirked. "Yes, indeed. Now, follow me." With that, he took off with his one wing. Sephiroth sighed and did the same, and Cloud was forced to follow by land. Where could they possibly be going…?

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I

Sephiroth did his best to follow Genesis and, finally, they got to where they were going. The two of them landed, banishing their wings, and Cloud pulled up to them pretty quickly. Jenova appeared next to them, looking around in puzzlement. "Korsanth? Why are we here?"

Genesis gave her a questioning look. "Korsanth…?" he asked, looking around the crystal forest and focusing on the Forgotten City.

Jenova froze. "I, uh…" She sighed. "What am I trying to hide…? Korsanth is the original name for this city, if you didn't know. I guess I still call it that myself, even after it being abandoned…"

Genesis smirked. "Which was your fault, Aya-"

"Don't call me that," she snapped, and he just smiled.

"Whatever. Let's get going, hmm?"

Jenova shook her head. "My original question was never answered: why are we here?"

Sephiroth wanted to know that as well. Didn't they already have everything they needed from here…?

Genesis shrugged. "Well, Minerva told me there was someone here. I don't know who, but I want to."

Cloud paused. "I thought Minerva wasn't talking to you…?"

"Until yesterday night. She told me about this right before I mentioned it last night."

"Oh." He looked slightly confused, but Sephiroth was too focused on looking around to really care much for what Minerva had said.

Jenova nodded. "Sephiroth? Is anyone here?"

"Trying to see…" he said, walking towards the main city. "There's… _something _in there… Actually, two people, I believe, but one of them is hiding their aura."

"The person from yesterday?"

"Most likely. The other one, though…" He _had _to be misreading this… If he wasn't, then this person was _incredibly _powerful. And their energy was intertwined with the Planet's, somehow. Then, he came up with a possibility. "The Guardian, perhaps?"

Genesis glanced at Jenova, who looked surprised. She shook her head. "What? No… The Guardian wouldn't be here, especially when I am. Are you absolutely certain?"

"Well, the energy is _very _powerful, and intertwined with the Planet's energy. So yeah, it would make the most sense…"

Jenova shook her head. "No, that's impossible... Where?"

"In the city, as I said. Why?"

"Because I need to prove you wrong… And I need to find out who – or what – it _really _is." She paused, looking at Genesis. "Could it be Minerva?"

Genesis shook his head. "Not a chance. Her energy wouldn't be intertwined with the Planet's; it would _be _the Planet's. Trust me; he'd know if it was her." Genesis paused. "Now, though, I'm wondering… Jenova, don't Guardians normally have a protector of their own?"

She stiffened. "Yes. Why?"

He could obviously tell that she didn't want him to continue so, of course, he did. "Well… Could it be this person, perhaps?"

"Not a chance," she said bitterly, walking briskly towards the city and going into it without waiting for the others.

Sephiroth sighed. "You _had _to do that, didn't you…?"

Genesis grinned. "Why yes, I did. Now, are we going to follow her or not?"

Cloud nodded, being the first to start after Jenova. Sephiroth sighed again, shaking his head and following as well, leaving Genesis to do the same.

The four of them quickly made it into the city, looking around the vast expanse of ruins. They made their way into the large shell building and descended down the strange magical pathway. Nobody really looked around, just heading straight forward. About halfway down, Sephiroth stopped, looking at Jenova and forcing the others to stop as well. "Are you _sure _it's not the Guardian?" he asked her.

"Or her protector?" Genesis added, getting a glare from Jenova.

Jenova sighed, looking away. "Yes, I'm certain that the Guardian… well, I'd know if it were her. As to her protector, well… He's dead."

"Are you certain, though?" Genesis asked, and Sephiroth almost wanted to murder him for pushing Jenova farther. This was obviously a hard subject for her, and she'd probably take it out on him later, as she almost always did…

Jenova smirked. "I'm positive, for you see, I was the last face he saw."

Sephiroth stared at her. "You… killed the protector of the last Guardian?!"

She shrugged, turning away and continuing forward. "Maybe I did. Why do you care?"

"I don't know…"

"Then let's drop the subject, alright?"

Sephiroth started to say something, but another voice echoed around the city. "Who is there? You are not someone I know, correct?"

Jenova, who had pulled out one of her katanas upon first hearing the slightest bit of the voice, let her weapon clatter to the ground. Genesis grinned at her. "I do believe that I win this round."

Jenova grabbed her fallen weapon and instantly disappeared. Genesis rolled his eyes. "Guilty much…?" He sighed, looking over the edge of the pathway to see someone down on the center platform not too far away. "Well, you don't know us, but we know you. At least, I do."

"…Oh? And how is that? Are you in league with Chaos?"

Genesis laughed. "No, but we know someone who is. Someone you know, unless I'm mistaken, _quite _well. In fact, the one who wants your precious Guardian dead above all others."

"…And who would that be? I thought that _was _Chaos?"

Genesis grinned. He summoned his one wing and leapt down the short way. Cloud took off running to catch up to him, and Sephiroth followed Genesis. They both got rid of their wing once they hit the ground.

Sephiroth looked at the man in front of them. He seemed young, maybe in his early twenties. He had hair that actually looked quite similar to Genesis's, except his was slightly lighter brown and had a few subtle blonde highlights. He was quite lean and muscular, and probably an inch or two taller than even Jenova, which would probably intimidate poor Cloud. Also, he was wearing some kind of green and brown leather outfit; but, unlike most of the people that wore leather outfits in this world, it looked more like normal leather and didn't seem tight. That, plus his unnaturally green eyes, meant that this person was definitely a Cetra and, if Genesis was right, more powerful than any other of his race. And he definitely did _not _look dead.

He was holding a book in his hand that had a scroll in it, which was written in some language that Sephiroth didn't recognize. Which was weird, because Hojo had taught him nearly every language ever used in this world, and he knew at least some of the characters from the languages he didn't know. So then what could this be…? Some of it was in a recognizable language, of course, but Sephiroth couldn't read it from his angle.

Genesis nodded as Cloud caught up to them quite easily. "No, not Chaos. At one point, perhaps, but not now."

The man shook his head. "I have no time for games. Just tell me who. And… what where those abilities you two just used?" He looked at Cloud. "And why couldn't you use them?"

Genesis shrugged. "Alright, alright, fine. You remember Jenova, don't you?"

The man froze. "Je…nova?! She is awake?! Of course she is… I completely forgot what happened back at the Northern Crater. The Lifestream does that to you… How did she awaken?"

Genesis nodded at Sephiroth, who took a step back. Genesis only smirked, though. "My friend here _kind of _freaked out and released her."

The man glared at Sephiroth. "Why would you do that?! And… er, why do you have silver hair like she did…?"

Sephiroth looked desperately for an answer that would make sense for both questions. He didn't even really _remember _much of what had happened back at Nibelheim. As to the other question… well, he didn't really know the answer to that, either. "I, uh…"

Genesis, though, just seemed to have everything planned out. "Well, him releasing her was partially my fault, and has to do with the other question. You see, my friend here is the result of some kind of twisted science experiment. So am I, but whatever. Anyways, when he figured part of that out and I filled in the blanks, it _kind _of shocked him so much that he wasn't able to defend himself, and, well, let's just say that the she-devil took that to her advantage, and forced him into submission."

The man nodded at Sephiroth. "Ah, yes, I remember now. I knew that you could not be related to her, since it is literally impossible for her to have children. Which was why I was so confused… And, if I am remembering correctly, you are the one that tried to destroy the Planet… Sephiroth, right?"

"Uh, yes…" Sephiroth couldn't really find the words to say much else. He _knew _that she hadn't been his real mother… Now, he just couldn't _wait_ to see how she would explain all of this…

He nodded, turning to Cloud. "And _you_… If I remember correctly, you're the one that's had to stop him multiple times, correct?"

Cloud nodded, obviously much more confident than Sephiroth. "Yes."

Sephiroth, in trying to find something else to focus on, just listened to everything else going on around him, and started looking for the other person that he knew was here. Then, up near the top, he could have _sworn _that he saw someone in a black cloak, just like back at Nibelheim…

The man smiled, drawing Sephiroth back. "Yes, you have had the misfortune of doing what I and the Guardian could not… Thank you for that. The Planet would have been long gone without your efforts… And the efforts of your friends, of course. I cannot forget them… Hmm, it is all starting to come back to me now… You see, I was able to witness quite a lot from the Lifestream over the years. I have seen everything that each of you did, both to protect the Planet and to harm it."

Cloud paused. "Oh, right… If you don't mind me asking, though… What's your name? Sorry, but I always find it hard to talk to someone when I don't quite know who they are…"

The man nodded. "Oh, of course! I apologize. My name is Cantus."

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I

Cloud just kind of stared at him for a minute. There were millions of thoughts racing through his mind, and millions of things he could say. But, unfortunately, he went with simply the first thing that had popped into his mind: "Ohhhh, so you're _not _a city."

Cantus looked at Cloud, confused. "Excuse me, what?"

Cloud shook his head. "Sorry, sorry. I knew your name, but that was it. I didn't know if you were a person, a place, or whatever."

"Ah, of course. Who told you my name?"

"Well… Technically, my friend Vincent Valentine told me. But Chaos told him. The same person who created Sephiroth was also experimenting around with Chaos's cells, just like he was experimenting with Jenova's. I don't know how he got Chaos's cells… something about the corrupted part of the Lifestream, I think. Anyways, Vincent finally was able to trip up Chaos and get him to say your name."

Cantus looked deep in thought. "I see… You said this person was experimenting with Jenova's cells as well? How is that?"

"Well, you see, they found Jenova when she was still comatose and… well, it's a long story. But they imprisoned her while she was still comatose and still in a form that she probably couldn't fight back in once she woke up, and they experimented on her and with her cells for… What, thirty years? Something like that."

Cantus looked horrified. "They… they did _what _to her?! Do they still have her?"

"Oh, I wish…" Genesis muttered, but Cantus heard him and turned to face him. Genesis shook his head. "Oh trust me; if you knew her like we did, you'd wish they still had her locked up as well. But don't worry; your girlfriend is free and able to murder or torture anyone she pleases without restriction."

Cantus rolled his eyes. "We did not know each other intimately." Cloud had to admit that he found it quite amusing that that was the first thing Cantus had focused on… "And you say that she is still harming others?"

Genesis shrugged. "I don't think she knows how _not _to."

Cantus paused. "How often, would you say? Does she hurt any of you for no apparent reason, more often than you would expect?"

Sephiroth jumped right into the conversation. "_Oh_ yeah. Don't even get me _started _on that."

Cantus nodded. "Then she still has her addiction… I thought thousands of years of being unconscious would have fixed that, but it seems that I was wrong…"

"Oh! Yes! What _is _she addicted to?! She's said multiple times lately – mostly on accident – that she's going through some sort of withdrawal, but none of us know why."

Cantus froze. "W-withdrawal?! That… This is _not _good… How long has it been since she last harmed you? Any of you? Or anyone else, for that matter?"

Sephiroth sighed. "A month? A month and a half? Or, at least, as far as I know, but I'm pretty certain that Chaos set her loose on your friend the Guardian not too long ago…"

"The… the Guardian?! No, that… Jenova would not torture the Guardian. That much I know. Not this one, at least."

Genesis nodded. "Yes, I know. What exactly _is _her addiction, though? Even Minerva doesn't seem to know. Or, at least, she doesn't want to tell me."

Cantus looked surprised. "You have talked to Minerva?"

"Yeah. It's… a long story. I'm not a Cetra, though, obviously. Just, since she doesn't have anyone else to talk to… Well, actually, she says that she _does _have three people to talk to, but one of them subconsciously refuses to listen. The second only talks to her every now and then – that's your Guardian friend. The third… Well, never mind her."

Cantus nodded. "Alright. Anyways, as to Jenova's addiction… Well, to be perfectly honest, she's addicted to the pain and suffering of others. Because of what she has done, she has been forced into an extreme case of sadism. If she does not hurt anyone for a bit, she starts going through withdrawal, and is much more prone to randomly attack anyone around her. If she goes through withdrawal long enough, instead of being cleared of her addiction, she just simply snaps, becoming virtually unstoppable and attacking anything that lives without the slightest remorse."

They all just kind of let that sink in. Finally, Sephiroth nodded. "Oh. Okay… Great… Which explains why she doesn't want to be around me; she doesn't want to attack me. Why, though?"

Cantus shrugged. "Guilt? If she is not emotionless at the moment, chances are that she is starting to feel at least slightly bad for harming you so often, and is willing to stave off her withdrawal to give you a break."

"I… guess… By the way, how do you know this about her? Did she tell you?"

"Heh… I kind of figured it out… Like with you, she dropped a couple of hints every now and then, so I figured out about her addiction by myself. As to the part where she snaps… Well, you can probably figure that part out by yourself…"

Sephiroth winced. "Oh… Is that how you died?"

Cantus shook his head. "No. Somehow, I survived, but only because I did not try to fight her off and I just let her do what she wanted with me, so there was no need for her to kill me. I shall spare you the details, but trust me when I say that I understand what you have been through, Sephiroth, and so much more…" Then, he looked around. "When I heard the group of you talking, I heard a female voice as well. Was that her?"

Genesis nodded. "Yeah. She heard your voice and disappeared pretty quickly, though. She's pretty guilty about your death."

He scoffed. "Mine? Why?"

Cloud shrugged. "She blames herself. Quite a lot. She won't admit it, though. She even said that she didn't recognize your name, but I figured out that she was lying _pretty _easily, especially when she threatened to literally tear me apart if I ever said your name again…"

Sephiroth looked like he was trying not to smile. "Yeah, I remember that… I was watching through your mind…"

Cloud wasn't sure what Sephiroth found so amusing until he remembered what had happened when he had told Jenova about Cantus and she had freaked out…

Cloud blushed slightly. "Yeah, anyways…"

Cantus looked slightly confused, but didn't push the subject. "Yes, well, I do not know why she blames herself… it was Chaos that killed me, after all… And that was my choice, not hers."

Cloud nodded. "So you're the only one who may be able to turn them against each other. I should have assumed that, but I don't like to assume without knowing all of the facts first…"

"That is the same with me, so I see your point. Why, though, would I be able to turn them against each other?"

"Well, Vincent told me that Chaos had said that if Jenova didn't know that she could only win while she was on his side, she would have probably turned against him by now. Because of you."

Cantus smirked. "Simply wanting to win is not the only thing that keeps her from disobeying him… But never mind that. You believe I would be able to turn her by simply talking to her? I doubt that. She… knows what she is doing, and I doubt that anything can change her mind now…"

Cloud shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure of that if I were you… You should have seen her when I mentioned your name the first time. I never thought someone could feel such despair, _especially _a being like Jenova…"

"A… 'being like Jenova'? May I ask: do you know her race? Any of you?"

Sephiroth paused. "I've never really thought about that… No, I only think Jenova knows Jenova's race. I doubt anyone else does, besides maybe Chaos…"

Genesis raised his hand for a second. "Actually, I know."

Cantus looked surprised. "You do?"

"Yes."

"And how is that?"

"Well, I have a friend – if you can call him that – that knows quite a lot. Even about Jenova."

Cantus nodded. "I must admit, I am impressed. You seem to know more about the Planet and everything going on with it than I would expect you to… Who is this friend of yours? Someone I know?"

"Well, yeah, probably." He nodded at Cloud and Sephiroth. "But they know him, too, and he wants his identity to remain a secret for now."

"Alright… He is not an enemy, right…?"

Genesis smiled slightly. "Not anymore."

"Oh, that is… reassuring…" He sighed. "Never mind." He paused, suddenly looking worried. "By the way… Jenova is still wearing her same outfit, right?"

Sephiroth paused. "Depends. If you didn't know, she can change her form quite easily… what did she look like with you?"

"With me? Fairly human, if you ignore the glowing purple-pink eyes. She looked maybe eighteen or nineteen, silver hair, pale skin, and a black leather jumpsuit-thing."

"Sheesh, she's been using that form for quite a while…" Sephiroth said, thinking on something. Genesis nodded. Cloud was also thinking about something, though. Where had she _gotten _that form? Since there was no way she would have originally looked even remotely human, that meant that she must have copied this form off of someone else… But who?

Genesis nodded. "Right. Well, the point is, yes, she still has that same outfit. Why?"

"Have any of you seen any part of her skin that would normally be covered by her outfit? Er, not that I would expect you to have, but…"

Genesis paused. "Well, yes, on accident… Long story; anyways, why?"

"Was she injured at all?"

"Yes… why?"

Cantus dropped his head, sighing unhappily. "Great… And, if you grabbed her, did she pull away like you hurt her without doing anything?"

Sephiroth and Cloud both nodded. "Yes," they said in unison.

Cantus shook his head unhappily. "She really needs to stop… She should know what she has to do…"

Cloud tilted his head, confused. "What?"

"Never mind… Just tell her that I know about what is going on, alright?"

"Alright…"

Genesis, though, seemed to understand what Cantus was saying. "Yeah, I think I understand. I asked her if that was why she was injured, but she denied it."

Cantus nodded. "Well, I assume she would. She probably does not want to appear weak in any way… It seems that she really has not changed at all…" He glanced up behind them, seeming to notice something – or someone? Well, whatever or whoever it was, he nodded and turned back to the three in front of him. "You should probably go now. I do not have much longer, so I need to spend the time I have left trying to figure out what is going on…"

"What? You don't have much longer?" Genesis asked.

"Correct. You see, I am not really alive; the rift between the Lifestream and the Planet-"

Sephiroth nodded. "Right. It's getting thinner. Jenova's told us that about five-hundred times…"

"Yes, well, she is right. Good. Now, you must find her and be off, for I need to see if there is anything I have missed before I must depart again…"

The three of them nodded and, without arguing, quickly left the platform. Cloud was pretty depressed to have come here, and he could tell that Sephiroth was as well, so it was good to get away… Now they just had to find Jenova, which wouldn't be easy.

The three of them decided to split up in order to search faster, as they were all certain that Jenova was somewhere nearby.

As Cloud was looking around the city, he noticed that Genesis was nearby. Genesis looked around for a bit, and then paused in front of a building. He quickly walked away from it and continued searching. What had he seen…?

Cloud started to walk up to the building Genesis had stopped at, but Genesis quickly got in his way. Genesis shook his head. "She's not there."

"Then what is?"

"…Nothing."

"Then why aren't you letting me go over there…?"

Genesis smirked. "Just trust me, Cloud: you won't get past me. So there's no use in trying."

"But… why…?"

Genesis shook his head. "Just… don't. Just come with me. We can, uh, keep looking somewhere else. Where's Sephiroth? We should actually probably get out of here…"

"But what about Jenova?"

"She'll catch up. Just give her a minute…"

"So you _did _find her…?"

Genesis nodded slightly. "Yes. …But she needs to be alone for a minute, so I suggest we get Sephiroth and leave."

"O…kay…" Genesis hated Jenova… why was he protecting her now? What didn't he want Cloud to see? It just made him even more curious, but he knew that there would be no getting past Genesis…

Cloud and Genesis quickly found Sephiroth, who was confused as well but didn't argue with Genesis's idea to get out of there. He probably remembered exactly what had happened here, and now that he was good-ish, he probably wanted to get away from the past. Of course, Cloud still didn't know if it had been Jenova or Sephiroth that killed Aerith; either way, it obviously affected Sephiroth quite a lot, which meant that it had probably been him that time. But did that make sense…? Well, nothing really did, so it didn't matter too much. Still, though, Cloud could tell that it wasn't only Aerith's death that was affecting Sephiroth, so what…?

Then, just when they were about to exit the city and go outside again, Jenova ran up to them. "Wait! I'm… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left…"

Genesis shook his head. "You're fine. I know why you left… I saw you about a minute ago."

She looked at him, worried, but Genesis just gave her a sympathetic smile. He didn't even seem to be toying with her; whatever he had seen, it had definitely changed his opinion about her.

Jenova looked away, looking slightly ashamed. "Yes, well… It doesn't matter. We should get out of here."

"You're just going to leave without saying goodbye, huh?" Cantus said from right next to them. They all turned around to see him leaning against a wall about ten feet away, watching Jenova. Cloud noted that he had used a contraction in his sentence for the first time, which Cloud hadn't thought he could do; Cantus must have only talked more casually with someone he knew.

Jenova turned away. "There's nothing to say. You shouldn't even be talking to me; why don't you hate me yet?"

"Hate you? Why would I-"

"You died because of me," she snapped, walking out of the city. "Let's leave it at that." She was out of sight within another second.

Cantus sighed. "She really _does _blame herself… I can see why, but… She should know that it is not her fault…"

Cloud shook his head. "What exactly _did _happen? Why does she think that it's her fault?"

"That… is hard to explain, while you still do not know the whole truth of everything going on. Let us just say that I helped Jenova, in a way, and Chaos did not like that, so he killed me off, both to get rid of me and to teach her to be more independent."

"Ah. Sorry about that… Well, we'd better catch up to her before she blows something up…"

Cantus nodded. "Your friend already left to go find her."

Cloud realized for the first time that Genesis must have followed Jenova, as he wasn't with them. He sighed. "Oh… Great, now we need to find both of them… Well, we might as well start looking… It was nice to finally meet you, Cantus."

Cantus nodded. "You as well. All of you. Although, Cloud… I feel as though I already know you somehow… Even before we sort of met at the Northern Crater, I mean."

Cloud paused. "Yeah, you're right… I _must _have met you before, somewhere… It's weird, really. But I guess it's just another thing we'll have to figure out."

"I suppose so… Well, you both should probably follow them. And, Sephiroth…"

Sephiroth looked up at Cantus, but didn't make eye contact. Cantus smiled slightly, shaking his head. "We are not enemies, you know. You may have harmed the Planet, and may even do so again, but this fate was forced upon you. It is not your fault at all; and you should know more than almost anyone that when something like this is forced upon you, it is not just something you can immediately fight back against."

Sephiroth paused. "Than 'almost' anyone?"

Cantus nodded, but didn't explain. Cloud immediately assumed that Jenova must have forced Cantus to do what she wanted as well, so long ago…

Cloud sighed, looking around. "Well, we need to get going… Will we ever meet again? Or will you not be able to come back once you're gone?"

"No, we shall definitely see each other again; I promise you that much." Then, he turned and walked away. Cloud and Sephiroth had nothing more to do there – plus, they both wanted to leave desperately – so they headed out of the city to find Jenova and Genesis.

It wasn't very hard; after about a minute, Genesis found them instead, being followed closely by Jenova. Jenova had her head slightly bowed and wasn't making eye contact with anyone, nor was she trying to get away at all, so Cloud wondered what had happened.

Genesis walked up to Cloud and Sephiroth. "Alright, we should get going now before anything else happens that we're not expecting…"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, that would probably be best… It's getting late, and we should probably get back. I doubt that we're going to get any more information about our enemy anywhere other than Midgar and Edge, at least for a while…"

Genesis looked back at the Forgotten City. "Yeah… yeah, you're right. We should go… You're sure that you just want to leave, Jenova?"

She nodded, not saying anything. She had a weird look of worried realization in her eyes that she wasn't hiding very well. Genesis glanced at her. "Are you alright…?"

She just nodded again, and Genesis sighed. "Fine, whatever… Alright, let's get out of here…" He started to walk forward, but Jenova grabbed his arm, glancing at him. "What…? Really…? Oh… Well, I doubt there's anything I can do…" He nodded. "Alright, I'll… I'll do that. I'm sorry; coming here was probably not the best option, but I didn't know what would happen…"

"It's fine…" she muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. She shook her head, disappearing. Genesis looked actually quite worried about her, so whatever she had told him had been something pretty bad. What, though…?

Genesis nodded. "You're both probably wondering what just happened, huh…?"

"Yeah," Sephiroth said. "And why does she suddenly trust you so much? I thought that you two hated each other?"

Genesis shrugged. "Yes, we hate each other. But I am the only one of us that knows her secret."

Cloud smirked. "What, she's not going to try to kill herself, is she?"

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Oh, if only. But no. Anyways, it's of no concern to you two, yet, so we should get out of here."

"Alright…"

Genesis took off without another word. Sephiroth sighed. "Well, today was… weird. I just hope that tomorrow isn't worse…"

Cloud smiled slightly. "You know that, just because you said that-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know..." He smirked. "See you later." With that, he took off as well.

Cloud sighed, looking around. He could tell that he was being watched, yet somehow, he knew that it wasn't Jenova watching him. Or even Chaos, for that matter. He didn't know _how _he could tell, but he could. Cantus was probably still there, of course, but still… Cloud looked around in all directions, but didn't see anybody. Then, out of his peripheral vision, he could have _sworn _that he had seen someone or something moving in the nearby shadows, but it was getting much too dark to see if he had been right. So he only nodded in that direction, so that if someone _was _there, they would know that he had seen them, at least slightly.

Cloud got on Fenrir, looking around again. He noted that Cantus was standing by the entrance to the city itself, watching him. Cloud raised his hand in farewell, then started Fenrir and took off.

Well, at least there probably weren't going to be any more surprises for a while… right?


	34. Awake and Alive

_-Disclaimer- I own nothing. I was going to use one of the new Red songs for the title, but none of them really matched the chapter, so instead, I don't own the Skillet song that I used. I'll use a Red song later, so I don't own that, either.  
_

* * *

_A/N: Okay, so… I was going to say something, but first, why am I still italicized…? _

**Because I'm still here…**

_A/N: Oh, hey, didn't even notice you… Hey, don't give me that look, it's dark out and you're wearing all black…_

_**Well, so am I…**_

_A/N: Yeah, but at least your eyes glow, so I can see you._

_**Hehe…**_

_A/N: Anyways! Okay, Carley, the download site is really up to you, to be perfectly honest, just check out any site first to make sure it's safe. As to the fonts, sorry if that was confusing, or still is. You see, my two friends and I have this thing that links our chat into the document at any Time while it's being written, putting it at the top, which I normally just use for author's notes, but these two refuse to keep quiet. Anyways, the font it puts it in helps to differentiate between us, I guess. I don't know; I didn't invent this thing. Anyways… that's basically it. Oh, yeah, Meggamonster, I can't tell you that, let's just say that it'd probably change your opinion about our friend Jenova. So will some of the next chapters, of course, but her character will go back and forth between making you feel bad for her and making you hate her, so… Yeah. _

_**And what do **_**you **_**think about her…? Both of you.**_

_A/N: Who, Jenova? I'm not going to answer that…_

…

_A/N: Hehe, I'm just joking, she's perfectly fine with me now._

**As for me… Well, you know exactly how I feel about her.**

_**Right… Anyways…**_

**Heh. Yeah, anyways...**

_A/N: Oh! Oh, yeah! By the way, hey, lurkers, why are you being lurkers?! Reviews give us strength! Mwahahahahaha! It's great to see so many people favoriting and following the story, but I know that there are a lot of you that read it and don't do anything, so... please?  
_

**Eh, they'll review eventually. So now... st-  
**

_A/N: No no no, that's my thing. To the story!_

* * *

_**Awake and Alive  
**_

Cloud was normally used to getting feelings of where to go, but he'd never felt one so powerful. The second he woke up in the morning, he had the overwhelming urge to go… _somewhere_. Aerith's church, to be exact. But he pushed the thought out of his head. It was probably a trap… right?

This time, Tifa had woken up first, but Cloud knew that it wasn't too late in the day. He made his way downstairs, to where Tifa had just opened up. She was looking around.

Cloud titled his head. "Is anything wrong…?"

Tifa jumped, not having seen him. "Oh! Good morning, Cloud! No, nothing's wrong, it's just… Remember Jenna?"

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"Well, she used to come in every day or every other day, but it's been three days since that one guy came in and pulled her out… honestly, I'm worried. I didn't get a good vibe off of that guy… Do you think he would hurt her?"

Cloud was honestly quite surprised, as was Marlene. Marlene, who had been sitting in a booth and talking to Denzel, froze, looking at Tifa. That wasn't good… What did she know that they didn't…? However, when she saw that Cloud had seen her, she hastily finished her sentence to Denzel; even though Cloud had no doubt that she was actually still listening to them.

Cloud shook his head. "Nah, I doubt it. She probably just has her own things to deal with."

Tifa sighed. "Yeah, maybe… By the way, speaking of people with 'Jen' names… Has she talked to you at all today? If what you told me about what happened yesterday was true…"

Cloud paused, thinking for a moment. Tifa was definitely right; Jenova should have said something by now. Even more so now that he was thinking about her. Where was she…? "No, she hasn't… I don't even think she's listening in right now, because she would have said something… She said something to Genesis yesterday, and then she disappeared; that was the last time I saw her or heard from her. To be perfectly honest, I could have sworn that she actually seemed pretty worried about something… Maybe Genesis knows what."

"Or maybe Marlene knows what…"

They both looked over at Marlene, who winced underneath their gazes. Cloud and Tifa both looked at each other. "She knows," they said at the exact same time, smiling slightly.

Cloud walked over to Marlene and Denzel. "Hey, um, Denzel, can you give us a moment, please?"

Denzel nodded. "Oh, yeah, sure." He quickly got up and walked over to Tifa, and Cloud slid into the booth, facing Marlene.

"Alright, Marlene. Where is she?"

Marlene shook her head. "Where's who?"

"You know who. Jenova, of course. Don't your friends know?"

Marlene took a deep breath. "They don't need to… I can assume what happened. I heard what you told Tifa about what happened, and one of my friends filled in the rest, saying that she was worried about Jenova… And, well, we both figured it out."

Worried about Jenova…? Why would a Cetra care about what happened to her? "Then what happened?"

Marlene shook her head sadly, a dark look in her eyes. "It's not my place to tell you. You need to find out on your own, if you ever do. Just know… that seeing Cantus had far more consequences than you think, and she's taking them all."

Cloud smirked. "Jenova? Help us? You must be joking."

"I'm not, Cloud. It's not necessarily helping you… it's just that Jenova has felt so much pain, and she's buried it so deeply that you don't even know it's there. Chaos has had quite a hand in that, and making sure that she doesn't show any emotion… but yesterday, she did. She's been getting her emotions back, and Chaos doesn't like that." She sighed. "My only concern, now, is what's going to happen when Jenova is forced to face the pain she's buried… It won't be good."

"Won't be good for who? Jenova, or us?"

"…We'll just have to see." She paused. "By the way, have you heard from Zack since… you know, since you found out about Sephiroth and all of that stuff happened? Or Aerith?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "No… no, I don't think that I have. Why?"

She shrugged. "Because I haven't, either… Ah, well, I doubt anything's wrong. You should probably get going, though…"

He nodded. "Yeah, right… I'll see you later, I guess…" He stood up and walked outside, waving to Tifa and Denzel for a second and then walking over to Fenrir. He leapt on Fenrir and then took off towards Midgar, the whole way trying to contact Jenova. Just like back when Chaos had summoned his allies, she wouldn't respond. So something was obviously off…

Finally, Cloud found Sephiroth and Genesis, who had been waiting for him. Immediately, Cloud got off of Fenrir and walked over to them. "Genesis. What did Jenova tell you before she left? I haven't heard anything from her all day, and I'm worried that this might be a replay of when Chaos summoned the dead back to life…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah, I asked him the same thing; he said to wait for you…"

"Well, I'm here now… What did she say?"

Genesis sighed. "Well, um… She said that she was going to go back to the Forgotten City, to try and find whatever scroll Cantus was reading, now that he's probably gone again. You remember that thing, right? That scroll in the book that Cantus had been reading, that was only partially deciphered?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah, I remember that thing… What was that, anyways?"

"A prophecy, maybe? I don't know. And neither does Jenova; that's why she went back to find it."

"Ah… You're sure?"

He nodded, a weird look in his eyes. "Yeah. Trust me… she's not doing anything to hurt you right now…"

"That was… cryptic…"

He smirked. "Yeah, maybe. But it doesn't matter, so stop asking…"

Cloud paused. "Wait… when Jenova disappeared that one day and I asked Marlene about it, she said that same thing. 'She's not doing anything to hurt you right now'. When Marlene said that, we figured out that Chaos and Jenova were probably hurting the Guardian. So, may I ask, is that what's happening again?"

Genesis sighed, obviously realizing that he couldn't hide the truth. "Yeah... Not Jenova, though. Didn't you hear Cantus? She won't willingly hurt the Guardian. They are each other's worst enemy, yes; they don't hate anyone more than they hate each other, if I'm correct. I don't think anyone in the entire universe can hate someone as much as the Guardian hates Jenova, and the other way around. But yet, Jenova wouldn't hurt the Guardian so badly. I doubt it, at least. Chaos, however…"

"Oh… And Jenova's with him?"

"Yeah. Yeah, she is." He grimaced. "Anyways… Should we continue looking for the Tsviets? And Hojo?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yeah, definitely. Where would they be, though?"

Cloud paused, and then nodded. "The church!"

They both looked at him, and Genesis shook his head. "Er… what?"

Cloud started pacing. "Aerith's church. This morning, I had an urge to go there. It probably has to do with talking to Cantus somehow, but I'm not entirely certain. Anyways, there must be something – or someone – there. Either way, I doubt going there will be a waste."

Sephiroth nodded. "Alright then. Let's get over there." He paused, smiling slightly. "By the way, speaking of Cantus… Am I the only one who noticed that he seemed somewhat disappointed when he said that he and Jenova hadn't known each other intimately?"

Genesis burst out laughing. "Yeah, I noticed that. I definitely did."

Cloud smirked. "Yeah, so did I. I didn't bring it up because it had been a bit of a tense moment… Anyways, why?"

Sephiroth shrugged, a smile still tugging at the corners of his lips. "Because I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't imagining it. When the time comes, we're going to need to use everything we have against Jenova, which includes bringing up her past."

Genesis nodded. "That's what I was going to do. It'll definitely work…" He shook his head unhappily. "You should have seen her yesterday…" He froze, and Sephiroth and Cloud gave him a questioning look.

"What do you mean…?" Cloud asked.

Genesis thought for a moment. "I, uh…"

"When you found her yesterday, but wouldn't let me see her… Why was that? What did you see, Genesis? What happened?"

Genesis sighed. "I… can't tell you."

"Well, whatever you saw, I could tell just by looking at you that it changed your opinion of Jenova, so I doubt it was something insignificant…"

Genesis shrugged. "No, nothing insignificant. However, you still can't know."

"Then at least tell us why she's suddenly so distraught…"

"Well… I'll just say that everything that's been happening recently has caused her much pain, emotionally and physically. Because of yesterday, though, it's even worse."

Sephiroth glanced at him quizzically. "I didn't think Jenova could feel emotions?"

"She has a basic grasp of most emotions, I suppose you could say. Emotions like love and anything close to it she can't feel at all, nor has she ever been able to. Her other emotions have been taken from her by Chaos, over the millennia. However, at times, she can still grasp them, such as when she saw Cantus. And because she isn't used to feeling anything emotionally, her feelings all just rushed at her at once, which she couldn't handle. And because she doesn't want to face what emotions she has left, and because _Chaos _doesn't want her to have any emotions, she's getting rid of them the only way she knows how to, the only way that Chaos has taught her: through pain and suffering."

"So she's using the pain of the Guardian to turn herself emotionless again?"

"…Yes."

Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head. "That's sick… I can't even begin to imagine what they're doing to her… Jenova is ruthless, and I'd assume that Chaos is far worse. If they're working together, or even if Jenova's standing back and watching, I just…" He stopped himself, the look in his eyes dark. "Will the Guardian survive?"

Genesis smirked. "Unfortunately for her, yes. Yes, she will. Chaos needs her for his twisted plans. And she knows it." He sighed unhappily. "Now, anyways, we've talked about Jenova too much. We should get to the church and see what's there."

Cloud nodded. "Oh, yeah, right. I wonder who it is… that place is pretty sacred to the Planet now. Plus, I'd assume Aerith is still guarding it, at least slightly…"

Genesis thought for a moment, pacing around. "Yeah, that's true… So perhaps it's not Chaos's allies? Minerva, now that I'm thinking about it, mentioned the church a while back, only a bit after she started talking to me again. I don't recall why… I think she just starting naming places we might want to look for the people Chaos brought back. She mentioned it a few times, actually, but I hadn't paid any heed. Now, though, I'm realizing that she must have wanted us to go there for a reason… but what could be so important? Or, rather, who?"

"Well, I guess we'll have to find out, huh?"

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

They all got to the church their own ways. It didn't take too long, since it wasn't very far from where they were. Sephiroth looked back at Cloud and Genesis, holding Masamune tightly. "Alright, I should probably go in first, to check it out. Since I'm technically still on Chaos's side, this person may trust me. You two follow. We'll surprise them."

They both nodded, and Sephiroth carefully walked into the church. He looked around, but didn't see anyone. It still looked the same, with the pool of holy water that still had flower petals floating around in it. The benches had all been put back in their place after Kadaj had destroyed most of them, by either Cloud or other random citizens who had been saved by Aerith. Other than that, and a few pillars still holding up the ceiling, the church was rather empty. Which was wrong, and Sephiroth immediately knew why: Angeal's sword was missing. Or, Zack's. Or Cloud's. Whoever's it was now, it was gone.

Sephiroth focused for a moment, and knew instantly that he wasn't alone. There was someone else right above him, and another person in the back room. They didn't seem evil, though… They actually seemed rather familiar.

_Jenova? Are you nearby?_

No response, of course. He was fairly certain that she wasn't even listening to him, which was odd. She was always listening… Well, she hadn't been after Chaos had attacked him and Cloud and then captured the Guardian, but now they knew why, since she apparently had other things on her mind at that moment…

Sephiroth noted that the person above him was moving, so they were probably trying to get around on the beams that were on the roof. He couldn't tell if they were trying to get away from him, or if they were trying to get a better angle so that they could attack him.

Then, suddenly, the person gasped and fell to the ground, cursing and leaping to their feet. They were wearing the cloak still, so Sephiroth couldn't see what they looked like. Why was it never easy…? However, he _did _notice one thing: they were holding the Buster Sword, which he couldn't allow.

Sephiroth smirked. "Well, hello there. A bit clumsy, aren't we…?"

The person scoffed, holding the Buster Sword up to him. Sephiroth rolled his eyes, hitting it away with Masamune. "I guess we're not allies, huh? No matter; I didn't think so, anyways."

The person tried to attack Sephiroth again, but Sephiroth noted that they were off balance. He could tell that this person was slightly scared, yet he – Sephiroth could tell it was a man by the way he fought – didn't seem scared for himself. So Sephiroth immediately realized that this person was probably trying to protect whoever was in back. Why would they care about someone other than themselves…? Was this really someone that Chaos had brought back…? Yeah, Sephiroth could tell that that was the case…

Sephiroth attacked the person, trying only to really get a feel for how this person fought. Everyone in this world tended to have a fighting style unique to only themselves, so he figured that he may be able to discern this person's identity if he fought them long enough. He just needed to make sure that Cloud and Genesis didn't come in for a minute…

_Alright, guys, _he quickly thought to them, tossing the person backwards more easily than he would have expected. _I found him. But I don't know who it is, so give me a moment. Alright?_

_Alright, _Genesis said almost immediately. It seemed that he had Jenova's telepathy as well. Cloud probably did, too, but Sephiroth doubted that he'd ever use it unless necessary. _Just tell us if you need help._

_I highly doubt that I will. I don't know why Chaos brought this guy back; he'd definitely be a good fighter against a normal person, but from what I've seen so far, he wouldn't stand a chance against us… Maybe, if he really tried, but he actually seems more interested in protecting someone._

_Who?_

_That's what I'm trying to figure out…_

Genesis didn't say anything more, so he probably figured out that Sephiroth needed to concentrate.

Sephiroth took a moment to step closer to the door into the back, but the person came out of nowhere, pushing him back. Sephiroth smiled slightly. "And who are you protecting, huh? You won't last much longer if you're only focused on keeping me away from them. I wonder, though… You obviously know me, and you seem to hate me… Have I already done something to you in the past?"

It wouldn't be too hard to believe, but Sephiroth still couldn't think of who it could be…

The person nodded slightly, attacking Sephiroth again, but Sephiroth now just wanted to know who this was, and why they were so adamant about protecting whoever was in the back. And why wasn't the person in back helping their friend…?

Sephiroth threw the person back. "We could fight for a while, but you'd still lose. Just tell me who you are; perhaps we're not as terrible enemies as you think we are."

The person shook his head, and Sephiroth sighed. "Fine, then. You've forced my hand; now you're going to meet _my _allies."

The person took a few steps back, then ran off into the other room. Sephiroth smirked. _Genesis. Cloud. Get in here. This guy isn't going to give his identity up easily; he doesn't seem to like me very much…_

Cloud and Genesis ran in seconds later. Cloud looked around. "Where is he…?" Then, he froze. "And where's the Buster Sword?!"

Sephiroth nodded towards the door into the back. "He's through there. And he's wielding the Buster Sword, for whatever reason."

Cloud looked stunned, as did Genesis. But they all just walked into the back room, looking around. It didn't take very long, because the person was kneeling over his friend, who was passed out on the ground. He jumped up as soon as the three entered, turning to face them. He had taken off his cloak; probably because he had been planning on grabbing his friend and getting out of there as quickly as possible. But that wasn't what left Sephiroth, Cloud, and Genesis all frozen, staring at the two. Sephiroth and Genesis couldn't say anything; they could only stare. Only Cloud was able to say the names of the two in front of them.

"Zack… and Aerith…"


	35. Start Again

_**-Disclaimer- I have to disclaim my own life…? Well, and the song too, I guess… Oh well, here's your disclaimer.**_

* * *

_**Wow, didn't expect everyone to compare Zack to everyone else… Yeah, we all know what a good fighter Zack is; he was just protecting Aerith. I don't remember him ever beating Sephiroth… I know in your game, Crisis Core, you beat him twice, but only to advance; I don't think that he actually ever won in real life. I think only Cloud has defeated Sephy… Which is understandable, of course, based on the circumstances. But hey, if I'm wrong, you can't exactly blame me, can you? After all, I was kind of… Well, you all know, yeah? And also, yes, Genesis was defeated by Zack even while Genesis was super-Genesis, so Zack is more powerful than him. Oh, and he could beat Angeal too, of course, most of the time. Weird… It doesn't capitalize 'time' for me… Oh well. Also… we brought some of the Lurkers out! Yessssssss! Hi everyone! Oh man, doing the author's note solo is so empowering… Yeah, sorry, forgot to say, Guen – the real one – is off doing… I don't know, goddess stuff I guess. So I get to write the author's note! Just don't tell her that I basically flat out told you who I am… Oh, and sorry about the wait on the last chapter, we kept on forgetting to upload it… Anyways! To the story! Man, that's fun…**_

* * *

_**Start Again**_

Cloud just kind of stared at his old friend, who stared right back at him. Yeah, this was _definitely _Zack, unless it was someone pretending to be him, which Cloud could tell it wasn't. And Aerith was on the ground behind him, passed out. She didn't have a cloak and, unlike Zack, was wearing a different outfit than just a repaired version of the one she had died in. Her dress was now white without designs. The top part of her new outfit was like a normal tank-top - not exactly loose but not really tight either – while the bottom half was like a normal long skirt, even though the entire outfit was one piece. Her shoes were just like her old ones, except they were white as well. Also, Aerith's hair wasn't tied back for once, which made sense because her bows had fallen off when Cloud had put her in the lake. Why had her hair been tied back in the Lifestream, though…? Oh, right, as Cloud had learned, a spirit could look however they really wanted in the Lifestream.

Zack stared them all down, looking cornered as he probably tried to figure out the situation. He held up the Buster Sword, pointing it at all of them but focusing on Cloud. "Cloud?! Why are you helping Sephiroth, now?! Since, I could be wrong, but he doesn't seem to have amnesia anymore…"

Genesis smirked. "I'm here as well, you know…"

Zack quickly nodded. "Oh, uh, yeah, hey Genesis… Seriously though. What's going on here?!"

Cloud shook his head, trying to figure out what was going on. Zack and Aerith were… alive?! Which meant Chaos must have brought them back… but why? "Well… It's quite a long story… Basically, yes, Sephiroth has his memories. He never lost them in the first place, actually."

Zack looked at Sephiroth, looking like he had just found the answer to all life. "Oh, so _that's _why you seemed so annoyed with me when you were unconscious…"

Sephiroth smirked. "Yeah. Honestly, you should have realized that I said your name without you telling me it…"

Zack actually looked quite embarrassed. "Oh, you did…? I didn't even realize that…"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. Then, he glanced at Aerith for a moment, and sighed, walking away. "Anyways, it's best if Cloud explains…" He stood over in the shadows, looking deep in thought. He probably just didn't want to face what he'd done…

Zack rolled his eyes. "So he kills her, and now that he can possibly make up for it, he just… walks away?" he muttered, sighing and turning to Cloud. "So? What's the rest of the story? We're not enemies now… right? Or… are we?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, we're not. Genesis is trying to protect the Planet now. And Sephiroth… well, I _think _he's helping us, because he obviously hates Jenova since she apparently takes her anger out on him…"

Sephiroth sighed, dropping his head. "Did you_ have_ to mention that…?"

They all looked over at him, and Cloud shrugged. "Why not? The more he knows, the better." The three turned back to face each other again.

Genesis nodded. "Yeah. Now, before we say anything else… How are you back?"

Zack thought for a moment, reluctantly lowering the Buster Sword. "Oh boy, that's not going to be an easy one, but I think that I've figured it out by now. You know that demon-dude… Chaos? Well, apparently, he brought a bunch of people back."

"Yeah, we know that."

"Oh, alright then. Well, I was one of the ones he brought back. I don't think he even knows that he brought me back. He said that he had brought us back because we had been important in the past, and some of us were going to be important again."

"Oh, so that's what he said…" Cloud said. "I remember that there were two people that were standing away from the main group when you all left. One of them seemed to be observing the others, and I'm pretty sure that that was Hojo. The second one, though… Was that you?"

Zack stared at him. "Hojo's back?! Great… Anyways, no, I stayed with the main group since I knew that he had resurrected me on accident and I couldn't risk being found out."

"Then who…?" Cloud sighed. "And what about Aerith?"

Zack nodded. "Oh, yeah. Well, you see, Aerith wasn't with us. I think that Minerva – that's her name, right? – was the one who resurrected Aerith, by using the strength of Chaos's spell. Since even the Lifestream itself would probably have a pretty tough time bringing people back now. Anyways, I came here immediately to get the sword, since I knew it was here and I knew I'd need it. And I found Aerith passed out next to the holy water. I left her like that for a while because I wasn't sure if she was there for a reason, until I heard you guys talking outside – I hadn't known it was you – and quickly carried her into the back. And, well, you know what happened after that." He looked over at Sephiroth. "Sorry for attacking you… I just saw you back looking like you, and I kind of assumed that you were back to the evil you again…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "No problem…"

Cloud looked back down at Aerith again. "So she's been unconscious for a while, then…?"

Zack nodded, his eyes showing just how worried he was about Aerith. He knelt down next to her again. "Yeah. She _seems _alright, but… why hasn't she woken up yet?!"

Genesis was the one to answer. "Because she was trapped. By Chaos. Hidden deep within the tainted part of the Lifestream. Because she was able to use the White Materia and tap into the Planet itself, Chaos is worried that she may do so again to either disrupt his plans or weaken the Guardian greatly, which would affect his plans as well. And so, since she was in a part of the Lifestream that Minerva no longer had control over, Aerith had to use more energy than she really had to break out just enough so that Minerva could save her and revive her with the residual power from Chaos's spell." He noted Zack's questioning look. "Minerva says so, at least. If you haven't figured it out yet, she talks to me at times."

Zack smirked. "She talks to the one who tried to kill her…? Eh, never mind…" He sighed, dropping his head. "She'll live, though, right? Since I doubt she'll be able to come back again…"

Genesis nodded. "Yeah, she should be fine quite soon." He paused, nodding. "Minerva thinks we should take her back to Cloud's place. Cloud, you have extra rooms, right?"

Cloud paused. "Yeah, one that used to be Tifa's storage room, but since we expanded 7th Heaven itself, we turned the room into a guest room… So yeah, sure, she should be fine there."

Zack glanced at them all. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea… I think I should probably take care of her for now, until I know I can trust you guys… Because, let's be honest here. Two of you have tried to kill her, and one of you succeeded. And the third of you tried to kill me before. So…"

Cloud knew that he was right. He remembered how, back at the Forgotten City, he had nearly killed Aerith because of Jenova's influence, right before Sephiroth had killed Aerith anyways. And Genesis, of course, had tried multiple times to kill Zack.

Genesis shook his head. "That's not a smart move, Zack Fair. Minerva is the one that brought Aerith back to life; if she tells you what to do, you should do it."

Zack glared at him. "And how do I know you're even talking to Minerva…? For all I know, you're actually talking to Chaos, and this is all just a trap…"

_Fine, then _you _tell him. He does not seem to realize that if you do not get her back to your place, she _will _die…_

Cloud jumped at the ethereal voice, looking around. Genesis smirked. "You heard her, huh?"

Cloud nodded, looking at Zack. "Yeah; she seems a bit annoyed, which probably isn't something you'd often see…" He paused, worried "She also said that if you don't get Aerith back to my place, she's going to die. I don't know how getting her to a different place would help, but…"

Zack sighed unhappily, obviously worried. "Fine, fine, sorry… But how are we all going to get back to your place, Cloud?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "Well, Fenrir has enough space for two people, so you can come with me. But someone's going to need to carry Aerith…"

Genesis nodded. "I will. I doubt Sephiroth wants to…" They all looked over at Sephiroth, and he simply smirked, walking over to them.

"Yeah, whatever… Let's get going…"

Genesis nodded, walking over to Aerith and very gently picking up her limp form. Zack winced slightly, but didn't say anything. They all walked out to the front of the church. It had started raining, and the clouds in the sky were quite dark. But none of them really cared.

Genesis was the first to go, since they all agreed that he needed to get Aerith to 7th Heaven quickly so that nothing went wrong.

Sephiroth took off without a single word, which just made Zack roll his eyes. Then, he and Cloud started back towards 7th Heaven themselves. On the way there, Cloud did his best to describe the situation, from Chaos, to Hojo, to the Guardian. Zack just kind of listened the whole time.

Finally, they reached 7th Heaven. Genesis and Sephiroth had stayed alongside them most of the way, so they landed at about the same time as Cloud pulled up. Sephiroth and Genesis banished their wings and walked into 7th Heaven which, luckily, was now closed. Cloud quickly matched their pace, and Zack followed right next to Genesis.

Tifa was at the bar by herself. Denzel was already upstairs; probably thanks to Marlene, who had been watching the door expectantly. Tifa looked absolutely stunned, but Marlene nodded.

"Finally. Come on, quickly…"

Tifa shook her head. "What's going on here?! Zack? And Aerith? How?!"

Cloud sighed. "Long story. Basically, Aerith is passed out, obviously, even though both she and Zack are alive now. Can we let her rest in the spare room until she wakes up?"

Tifa nodded. "Uh, yeah, of course… But still, how…?"

Zack jumped in. "Chaos. Accident. Rebound spell. Long story. We gotta let her rest, though, or who knows what will happen…?"

"Oh, right…" She quickly led them upstairs. Marlene and Sephiroth stayed downstairs for whatever reason; Cloud was slightly worried that the building would explode, but he had to leave them be… for now.

The room wasn't overly large, but it wouldn't be cramped. It looked slightly dull, but that was because nobody really ever went in there. There were two beds on opposite sides of the room, as well as a chair and a desk. There was also a large window, like the other rooms had.

Genesis gently set Aerith down on one of the two beds, sighing. "I need to get out of here and back to my friend, before he thinks something happened to me… Contact me if she gets better, alright?"

Cloud nodded. Then, though, they all heard Sephiroth downstairs. They couldn't tell what he was saying, but his tone was dangerous. Genesis glanced back at them, then walked out of the room.

Tifa sighed after a moment. "I'll go make sure that Marlene's alright… I'll see you guys in a minute." She headed out of the room as well, leaving Cloud and Zack alone with Aerith. Now all that was left was to wait and see if she would ever wake up…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth watched them take Aerith upstairs, and sighed. It only took him a second to realize that Marlene was watching him, so he smirked, turning to face her. "What do you want…?"

She shrugged. "Are you alright?"

"Me? Of course," he quickly lied. Too quickly…

Marlene had a knowing smirk that would probably be able to rival one of Jenova's. "Uh-huh. Suuuuure… I won't judge you, Sephiroth. I know that you probably feel differently about finding that they're alive than the others do…"

"Why? Because I killed Aerith? And because I set in motion the events that led to Zack's death as well?" he said bitterly, unable to stop himself. Marlene nodded, and he shook his head. "Maybe so. Why would it matter?!"

She just calmly looked at him. "I know that neither were your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself."

"Shouldn't blame myself?!" he all but growled, his tone telling her not to continue with her questions. "Perhaps not for Zack's death. Perhaps. But Aerith? It's _pretty hard _to say that I shouldn't feel guilty for that!"

"Is everything alright…?" Genesis suddenly said, coming downstairs and glancing at the two of them.

Marlene smiled gently at him. "Yeah, everything's fine. You're leaving?"

"Yes." He glanced at her. "If Aerith gets worse, you know how to get the word to me, right?"

Marlene nodded. "Yes, of course. Good night, Genesis."

Genesis walked out; he obviously had something on his mind. Marlene turned back to Sephiroth. "It _wasn't _your fault. Jenova-"

"Forced me to? You don't think I know that?!" he snapped back at her. Yes, it had been Jenova that had forced him to kill Aerith. But what he still remembered the most – and what he definitely would _not_ tell Marlene about – was what she had done _afterwards_… and what he had _nearly_ done… "It doesn't matter whether or not I killed her of my own free will; I still killed her."

"Actually, it _does _matter. Quite a lot. It wasn't your choice, and as such, you shouldn't take the blame. Sephiroth, trust me: you aren't the first person to be in this situation. This isn't the path that you chose; it was forced on you. Viciously. And I mean that both literally and figuratively. Nobody could face what you've been through and still stay perfectly 'good'. In a universe with so much Darkness, it can be hard to find a Light; especially one that is willing to stand up and fight back. And when that Light is found, the Darkness will seek it out and corrupt it by whatever means necessary. If the Darkness wants you, it's impossible to fight back and remain sane; the best thing to do, in my opinion, is to whether the storm. Play along. And when the time comes, strike hard and without mercy at the Darkness that condemned you. The _real _Darkness. Sometimes, that Darkness isn't what – or who – you think. Do you understand me?"

Oh, he understood her perfectly. In fact, that was what he had tried to do multiple times, but Jenova was just too quick. She somehow knew the signs of betrayal, and would always try to make sure that he wouldn't consider it again. She didn't seem to realize, though, that by doing that, it only turned him against her even more… But that wasn't important now. "No matter what you say, Marlene, I'm still the one who killed her, alright?"

Marlene glared at him. "Well, she's alive, now. So maybe you should stop acting like Cloud, and instead of focusing on the past, focus on the present." She smiled slightly, and he sighed, sitting down across from her.

"Yeah, maybe you're right…"

Then, Tifa came downstairs, looking at both of them just like Genesis had. "We heard fighting… Are you both alright?"

Marlene laughed. "Yes, yes, we're fine. Sorry if we worried you." She thought for a moment. "Although… I should probably see Aerith. I need to give her any slight bit of energy I can…"

Sephiroth glanced at her. "How can you do that…?"

"Just give me a moment…" She stood up, nodding at Sephiroth, and he understood that she wanted him to follow her. So the three of them walked upstairs and into the room where Aerith was.

Marlene sighed. "Alright, there's not much else that any of us can do… We should all just get some sleep and see if she's any better in the morning…"

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Seriously…?"

"Yes, seriously," she snapped, and he looked at her with surprise. She sighed. "Just trust me on this, alright?"

Cloud sighed. "Whatever…" He and Tifa left, and Zack looked at Marlene.

"What about me…?"

"Well, there are two beds in here, so you're going to have to use the other one for now."

"Oh, alright…"

Marlene nodded at Sephiroth. She glanced at him. He felt a strange change in her aura, and immediately listened into her thoughts.

_Good, I didn't think you'd know to do that. Wait for me on the roof; Aerith's life is in our hands, now._

He glanced at her, still quite surprised by how mature she could be, even with the Lifestream's aid. But there was no point in arguing, so he sighed. "I should get going… I need to see if I can find Jenova…"

Zack paused, obviously worried. Sephiroth tapped into his thoughts, but didn't even need to to know that Zack was worried about Sephiroth double-crossing them. That was good, though. Let him fear Sephiroth; perhaps then, he'd be more prepared than the others for what would doubtlessly happen soon…

Sephiroth quickly turned and walked out, leaving the building and then just as quickly jumping up onto the roof. A minute or two later, Marlene came up to him. She nodded. "Just wait for a minute; the others need to fall asleep first."

He glanced at her cautiously. "What are you planning on doing…?"

"Just letting her be a bit closer to the Planet for a minute, so that she'll regain her energy much more quickly."

"And how do you plan on doing that…?"

"Don't you remember who I'm friends with?"

"Oh, right…"

They sat there in silence for a few minutes. It had started raining again, which wasn't too odd, since clouds had been gathering and getting darker ever since the day before. Neither of them really cared, though; Marlene seemed to be perfectly warm in her grey sweat-pants and hoodie, with her boots on. And Sephiroth didn't mind the cold; in fact, he preferred it.

Finally, Sephiroth broke the silence, asking something that he'd been wondering for quite a while. "By the way, Marlene… Why do those Cetra trust you so much…?"

She shrugged, not missing a beat. "Easy. I'm a human empath, which is rare. I have a bond with the Planet that most humans don't. But I am still, unfortunately or not, definitely human…"

"Oh… And, one last thing… How's your friend doing?" He knew that one of her 'Cetra' friends was actually the Guardian; it was finally time to confront her about it. He needed to know more about why Jenova hated the Guardian so much, and Marlene would probably be the one to answer that. Probably.

She glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean," he said, looking her directly in her eyes and not breaking eye contact, so that he would know if she was lying. "Your 'Cetra' friend, the Guardian."

Marlene smirked. "Is it really so obvious…?"

"Yes, it is."

She sighed, looking away. "Well, I wish I knew. Trust me. Unfortunately, I don't. And I doubt I will until sometime tomorrow at least."

He shook his head unhappily. "I just can't believe that they would hurt someone that's innocent; at least, not nearly as bad as them."

"Only Chaos is hurting her. But yes, you're most definitely right: she doesn't deserve it; he does."

He nodded. "Yeah, definitely. Jenova deserves it, too, even if she is just watching. I just hope that she gets what she deserves, when the time comes… Chaos too, of course…" But no, he mainly meant Jenova. After all, he had faced her wrath far more than he should have. And if she was that ruthless and sadistic with _him, _someone who was actually _on her side _in this battle, he couldn't even _begin _to imagine what she did to her enemies. And her enemies were probably the actual 'good guys' in this, so they didn't deserve that…

Marlene looked strangely sad. "Oh, Jenova's been paying for her existence every day of her life. You can trust me on that. It doesn't matter right now, though." She sighed. "We should go take care of Aerith. Come with me."

Wait wait wait, what?! She couldn't just say something like _that _and then continue on like she hadn't said it! Unfortunately, though, she didn't seem interested in explaining. She led Sephiroth downstairs, and then quickly headed into the guest room. It was quite dark in the whole building, but neither of them really had much of an issue with that.

Marlene knelt down next to Aerith, pulling something out of her bag and placing it in Aerith's hand. Sephiroth had noted that Marlene hadn't been wearing the necklace she normally had on, so he assumed that that was what it was.

After a second, Aerith's breathing became steadier. Marlene pulled back, stealthily slipping the necklace back into her satchel. Sephiroth wasn't able to see the necklace, but he wanted to, since Jenova might know something about it if she ever came back…

After another moment, Sephiroth saw Aerith's emerald-green eyes open. Before anything, Marlene put her hand over Aerith's mouth. Aerith looked over at her for a moment, and Marlene nodded at the door, pulling her hand back and standing up.

Aerith glanced at Sephiroth, worry showing in her eyes, but she quickly did as Marlene said. The two of them quietly walked out of the room, and Sephiroth followed closely behind, closing the door behind them.

Marlene walked up to the roof, and Aerith followed her without hesitation. She did, though, keep on glancing back at Sephiroth, who always just smirked or rolled his eyes.

Finally, all three of them were up on the roof. Marlene grabbed Aerith and hugged her, much to Sephiroth's surprise. Hadn't they only known each other for a few minutes, back when Marlene was only four or something…?

Aerith finally pulled back, smiling. "Hello, Marlene! It's… good to be able to feel, again… Good to be alive again, really…" She glanced at Sephiroth for a moment, and then back at Marlene. "How am I alive again…?" She paused, then spoke again before Marlene could answer. "The goddess… I remember her trying to call out to me. I was held captive by Chaos, in the tainted Lifestream…"

Marlene nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm glad that you're alright. Minerva said to everyone who needed to know – including me – that she reached you and you exerted more energy than you had to get out of the tainted Lifestream."

Aerith thought for a moment. "That is… _sort of _how it happened. Yes, I tried to get out, but I didn't make it all the way. Someone else got to me… I don't know how their power could survive in the tainted Lifestream, though…"

Marlene paused. "The Guardian. It has to have been. She's risking herself way too much…"

Sephiroth smirked, speaking for the first time. "Yeah, and it sure isn't turning out well for her, huh?"

Aerith jumped, her body tensing, but Marlene only smiled sadly. "Yeah…"

"So that must be why Chaos was so angry with her; not only did she protect us, but she went against him and saved Aerith…"

"Yeah, you're right, that makes sense…"

Aerith shook her head, her tone very, _very _cautious. "The… Guardian? Of what?"

Marlene nodded. "Oh yeah, you don't know what's going on, do you…?" She sighed, and quickly explained who the Guardian was, and that she was Chaos's prisoner of war. Then, she went on to explain that Chaos had brought back former antagonists, and that he and Jenova were trying – and succeeding, so far – to destroy the Planet, but nobody really knew how.

"Oh…" Aerith said unhappily. "Well… What can I do to help?"

Marlene looked up at the clouds. The rain had stopped, if only for now. "Well, for now, you need to rest. You're still exhausted, I can tell."

Aerith nodded. "Yeah…" She paused. "Oh! And, um, Zack? How's he? He was brought back as well… right?"

Marlene smiled at her. "Yes, he's alright. If you don't mind, the two of you are going to have to share a room for now, until we get everything figured out…"

"Oh, of course! Thank you, Marlene. For everything."

Marlene nodded. "Of course. Now, before anything else…" She glared at Sephiroth. "You haven't said anything for nearly ten minutes. Don't you have something you want to say to Miss Aerith…? You know, for _killing her _and everything?!"

She just _had _to bring that up, didn't she…? Anything he said wouldn't matter; Aerith would still hate him, would still fear him. But she should; after all, no matter what anyone thought, he wasn't on the good side, even if he secretly wanted to be. "There's nothing to say. I can't change the past; we all know that much. It doesn't matter whether or not I was forced to do what I did; I still did it, alright?"

Aerith looked at him, stunned. "You… were forced?" she said quietly.

He smirked. "Yes, I was."

"By… Jenova, right?"

"Yes. But that doesn't change a thing, now, does it? I still did what I did, and that can't be changed."

He started to walk away, but she grabbed his hand. "Actually, it _does _change… quite a lot. You can't be blamed for something that wasn't your fault, alright? You may not have been controlled or anything, but if you were forced, it's alright. I understand." She smiled at him. "And I forgive you. Can we just… start again?"

He looked back at her, surprised. "Oh, um, yeah, sure?"

She nodded, letting go of him. "Thank you." She smiled at Marlene. "Alright, then. We should probably go back inside, hm?" She laughed gently. "Before it starts to rain! Oh, how I love being alive…"

Marlene nodded, smiling at her. "Oh yeah, sure! Come on; I'll show you back to the guest room." She walked inside, leaving Aerith to follow her.

Aerith paused, turning back towards Sephiroth. She smiled at him. "I'll see you later, okay?"

Sephiroth nodded at her, and she turned back around and quickly followed after Marlene.

Sephiroth sighed. The rain was starting again, so he decided it would probably be best if he went back to where he was staying. He took off, heading towards Midgar. Start again, huh? Well, if nothing else, he could probably try; at least, for now…


	36. Scarlet

_**-Disclaimer- …Here. The title doesn't even match the chapter too much, so why do I have to- gah, never mind...**_

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_**Hello again! I bet you missed me, huh? Well, your suffering's over! Now… Alright, Hazza. Yeah, yeah, Guen doesn't say names, I do, whatever. Anyways! Well, umm… Victim of circumstance? Check. Abusive parent? Not… **_**exactly.**_** As far as I'm aware, I didn't have parents. You see, the truth about my past is a bit more… violent, than your guess. About writing it down… I already did, so I'll probably have Guen post it at some point as either another story, or I'll put the basics in this one. However, the 'short' part…. Well, it's not too short, but I'll try to cut out non-important parts if we ever do post it. Now, as I found out, Guen is out with her horse – godly horse, but whatever – Abrax, so they should probably be back for the next chapter… Just, as I said last time, don't tell her I told you who I was. **_

**Maybe they won't, but how do you know I won't?**

**Dear goddess! **_**Don't sneak up on me like that, with your hidden aura and everything!**_

**Heh… By the way, why were you in the Shadow Realm…? **

_**In this chapter? Because I'm allowed to be, duh. It's not just **_**your **_**realm, oh all powerful Kadaj-looking god of Darkness…**_

**Meh.**

_**Oh well. Now, to the story!**_

* * *

_**Scarlet**_

Cloud sighed, walking into his and Tifa's room with her following closely behind. He shook his head unhappily. "Does Marlene honestly think that all of this is up to her…?"

Tifa paused. "I remember downstairs that she had said something about giving Aerith her energy back, so yes, it does seem that way." She shook her head at him. "But… Sephiroth was with her. I think that that may mean something."

"Yeah, maybe…"

They both got ready for bed. Tifa fell asleep quite quickly, but Cloud just stared out the window for a while. After a minute, though, he noticed that the rain had stopped. It had started pounding harder than he had seen it in quite a while, which had kept him from proving whether or not someone was walking around the house, as he thought he had heard footsteps. Then, though, the rain just simply stopped. And suddenly, Cloud found himself asleep.

_Cloud looked around the somewhat-familiar zone that he was now standing in, recognizing it quite quickly. This was the same place that Jenova had brought him the night he had first found out that Sephiroth was back. There was something… _different_, though. Everywhere he looked, the room – if it was a room at all – was full of dark mist, but that wasn't different. The strange thing was that everything was eerily silent, yet it didn't seem calm. An air of peril was laced in with the mist, and Cloud knew that he was in danger. But he also knew that there was no way out. _

"_Jenova…?" he called out. "What is this place…?"_

_Still, it was silent. This time, though, the silence only lasted for a moment more. "The… the Shadow Realm," she finally replied, her voice faint yet close by, as though she was having to force herself to speak. "Mortals… human or not, cannot be here because of… their closeness with the Light. The Light is allowed here, but… she keeps mortals out for their own good, unless they have shadows within their souls. Which is why… I am able only to pull your spirit here. Mine as well, though I can come here when I am conscious, since I, as you know… am not mortal." Since Cloud was more aware of the situation this time, he turned towards where she was._

"_And why did you contact me instead of Sephiroth…?"_

"_He's… still conscious."_

"_I see. Why are you hiding…?"_

"_As I said… This is only a spiritual manifestation of myself, at the moment. Should I come into contact with one that I… can control, I would be able to take them over and use their body as if it was my own, until my real form awakens. Of course, my body doesn't have to be asleep; I can control multiple beings at once when I want. But… I'm getting off topic… To answer your question, my raw spiritual manifestation has the appearance of my true form. Which I am not ready for you to know just yet…" Her voice was getting louder, and she seemed to be getting more confident. Why had she been talking strangely at first, though…?_

_Cloud smirked. "Afraid you'll scare me?"_

"_I'd prefer that, actually… I'd just rather not raise certain… _questions,_ for the time being."_

_Cloud rolled his eyes, taking a step towards where he knew she was. _

"_Don't," she warned him, but, oddly, made no move to actually stop him. _

"_Are you alright, Jenova…? The last time we were here, I felt as though you could control my every move and thought if you had wanted to. Right now, though, you seem… weak. The last time we were here, if I had stepped towards you, you would have stopped me in my tracks, yet this time you only tell me not to go further. Why…?"_

"_Don't call me weak," she snapped, but even her defense wasn't as sharp as it normally would have been. "I just… My telepathy is choked, here… Anything that reaches the outside world is blocked. Teleporting in is fine, but out… not so much. I can only do this because we're sanctioned in the Shadow Realm…" He couldn't tell whether or not she was lying, but even if she wasn't, then where was she…?_

"_Does this have to do with the Guardian…?"_

_She didn't say anything for a moment, and then spoke almost monotonously. "What about her?"_

_He glared at the general direction of where she seemed to be. "Don't think that we don't know. Genesis told us what you're doing to her. Well, not you, maybe, but at least Chaos…"_

"…_How much did he tell you?"_

"_Basically everything. That you showed emotion yesterday when you saw Cantus, and you couldn't handle it because you'd gone so long as an emotionless killer. You didn't like it, and neither did Chaos. So the two of you went about hurting the poor Guardian for your own fun, because you think seeing others in pain because of you will turn you back into a heartless bi-… yeah, well, that, basically."_

_She laughed slightly. "Oh… Well, ahem, yes, that's true."_

"_And how is she now…? You got bored and decided to contact me, huh?"_

"…_More or less, yeah. To be perfectly honestly, she's unconscious for now. I, as you said, got bored. Chaos will wake her up in a minute though, so we should probably finish this up."_

_Cloud shook his head, sickened by her sadistic attitude. "If I didn't hate you so much, Jenova, I'd seriously pity you. You don't even know the difference between right and wrong. You seem to think that life is just your toy. Your attitude towards the lives of every other thing in the universe is just pathetic."_

_She laughed. "Did I _ask _for your opinion? Or ever make it seem as though I cared? Oh, that's right! No, I didn't. So I'd suggest you stop talking before I show you even a fraction of what… heh, of what the Guardian's been through. Now, I don't think want _that_, hmm?"_

_Cloud rolled his eyes. "Your threats won't work forever, Jenova."_

"_Ah, but they work for now, and that's all that matters, correct?"_

_But he still just couldn't get over her attitude. "You're hurting someone that's completely _innocent, _and you don't even _care_! How much more of a monster could you possibly be?!" _

"_Heh, you're insult does you no good, Strife. You call me a monster, and you're right. But you don't even know how deep my corruption goes… Sometimes, I forget about my past entirely, and I give in to myself. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that there could possibly be anyone out there that's worse than I am; even Chaos. But you know? It's times like those that I realize that perhaps I'm fine with this. And you can't change me."_

_He smirked. "Yeah, I get that I can't change you. But I don't even want to. I'll make sure that you pay for what you've done, alright?"_

"_Heh, well I-" Suddenly, she cried out, and Cloud heard her fall to the ground. He wasn't sure _how _he heard her, since she was only a manifestation of her own spirit, but…_

"_Jenova?!"_

"_I… I'm fine, Cloud. I've just been in here too long…"_

_Well, he doubted that she had been in there any longer than he had, and he was fine. Plus, hadn't she said that this realm wouldn't have any negative effects on her? So she was lying about being there for too long, but… why?_

_She sighed. "I have to go."_

"_But-"_

"I have to go_, alright?!" She sighed unhappily. "Fine, fine. You want the truth? Chaos is calling me. It's dividing my mental attention in three ways: keeping this form here, keeping _you _here, and turning back towards the world of Light. So, obviously, it's not the easiest thing…" Her voice was still a bit off; if Cloud didn't know better, he'd think she was scared about something. Did Chaos not want her to stay in the Shadow Realm, or something…? If that was the case, maybe Cloud should keep her here longer… But, unfortunately, she was in control of this little dreamstate, so that would be impossible to do._

"_Goodbye for now, Cloud Strife. And… take care of Aerith."_

_Cloud was stunned. He started to say something, but the dreamstate was shattered, sending him into the oblivion of unconsciousness._

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Finally, a while later, Cloud woke up. Not waiting for Tifa because she needed her rest even more than he did, he went into Aerith and Zack's room. Zack was already awake, pacing around, even though the sun had just barely risen. Cloud wondered how long he had been up…

Zack looked back at Cloud. "She seems better, but she's still not awake…"

Cloud tilted his head, walking over to Aerith. "If she's better, then maybe she's just sleeping right now?" He gently shook her shoulder, not expecting a response. So, obviously, he was quite surprised when she jumped up, startled.

Cloud and Zack just stared at her for a minute, and she stared right back at them. Not one of them said anything for a moment, but then, unexpectedly, Zack grabbed Aerith and kissed her. He quickly pulled back, just as surprised as she obviously was. But she smiled slightly. "Good morning," was all she said.

Cloud shook his head at her. "How long have you been awake?!"

"Oh, not long. In fact, you were the ones who just woke me up, now. I came out of my coma last night, though."

Cloud smirked. "Let me guess. Marlene worked some of her Cetra-friend magic?"

She nodded. "Mm-hmm. Yes. She and Sephiroth woke me up last night, and told me the basics of what's been happening so far."

Zack scowled. "Sephiroth? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

She shook her head. "No, not at all. Even if he didn't exactly say it, I could tell that he was sorry. But after all, he _was _forced…"

"He was?!" both Cloud and Zack said at the same time, as they were both equally surprised. Although, it made a strange sense…

"Yes. Now, though, we don't have that much time to discuss that, do we?"

"I, uh…" Zack said, and then nodded. "Oh, right! Yeah, the present is probably more important than the past right now, huh?"

"Yes, it is."

Cloud thought for a moment. Should he tell them about Jenova…? Of course he should. This was Zack and Aerith; they were involved in this just as much as he was. "Yeah, it is. There's something… strange, going on here. And with Jenova."

Zack shook his head. "Meaning…?"

"Well, we should probably include Sephiroth, and Genesis if possible."

He folded his arms across his chest. "Why? They don't need to know, do they? How do we know that they won't just betray us again?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't think that they will. They would have already, if they were going to."

"Hmph. Fine…"

And so, the three of them took off towards Midgar, using the truck because there were now three people. Cloud expected Marlene to tell Tifa where they had gone, so there was no need to wait around. Besides, she probably didn't really care where he went, anyways…

On the way to Midgar, though, Cloud stopped and purchased two phones that he would give to Sephiroth and Genesis. They needed to be able to contact each other without using Jenova as a messenger, since she'd probably do a lot more of these disappearing acts before this was over… Now, if only there was a way to get Sephiroth to meet them without Jenova telling him to…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth sighed, staring out his window. 'His' being a relative term, of course, but that didn't matter. He had been trying to contact Jenova since the second he had woken up, and had yet to get even the slightest response. And he had been up for quite a while…

Sephiroth started pacing, trying numerous more times to even get an acknowledgement from Jenova. He knew she was… _busy_, at the moment, but surely she could at least tell him to stop annoying her, or _something_… She had never refused to speak when she was ever hurting _him, _so why was this Guardian so different…? It just didn't make any sense.

Then, though, Sephiroth noted that Cloud was approaching. Aerith and Zack seemed to also be with him. Why, though? Had they heard from Jenova? He had to find out, so he went out and found them quite easily. It was raining again, but nobody really cared.

Cloud, Aerith, and Zack all walked over to Sephiroth once they had gotten out of their truck. Sephiroth looked at them all. "Did you hear from Jenova…?"

Zack crossed his arms over his chest, closing himself off. "Apparently so…" he muttered unhappily. Sephiroth smirked, trying to not show how amused he was with Zack's attitude – and he was fairly certain that he wasn't doing a very good job.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"She contacted you, but not me…? Why…?"

"She said that it was because you were still awake. She only contacted me in my dreams, through some Shadow Realm or something. Anyways…" He then went on to detail his entire conversation with Jenova. Sephiroth listened intently. When Cloud mentioned the 'not wanting them to know her real form' thing, Sephiroth went deep into thought. She had said 'know'… did that mean that they had already seen her in her original form, they just hadn't know it at the time? If so, then that meant one of the form she had fought Cloud in was her real form… Or, had she shown other forms before? He suddenly found himself wondering if _that _was why she had erased much of his memory from back at Nibelheim; had she shown him her true form then, when she hadn't know whether or not she was going to kill him?

Finally, Cloud finished his story. Sephiroth thought for a moment. "She really said 'take care of Aerith'…?"

Aerith looked just as curious, and Cloud nodded. "Yeah."

"But… I thought that she and Chaos didn't know that he had accidentally brought her and Zack back…?"

Zack shook his head. "She only said Aerith's name. That means that she probably doesn't know about me. That, or she hates me, but nobody hates me _too _much, right? Especially women."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "To be perfectly fair, we don't quite know ourselves whether or not she actually _is _a woman; we just assume, since she tends to prefer female forms when not imitating someone for a reason."

"Huh… You should ask her. Anyways… What was my point? Oh, yeah. She must know that Minerva brought Aerith back… but how?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't know. That's still what I'm trying to figure out."

Aerith shook her head sadly. "Well, the Guardian helped me out of the tainted Lifestream… Do you think that she told them?"

"Oh… I didn't think of that… You're probably right…" He sighed unhappily. "Which means Chaos probably knows about you as well. So he's going to be after you… perfect…"

"Maybe, but I can protect myself. And, if I can't, I have you guys there, right?"

They all nodded, and she smiled happily. Cloud paused for a moment. "Well, we should probably get going; I just wanted to tell you about Jenova. First, though…" He handed Sephiroth something; a phone. "If Jenova contacts you, or something else happens, call. I already have my number in there. I'll do the same if something happens on our side."

Sephiroth nodded. "Alright, sure. I assume Jenova will come back soon, because she's rarely gone more than a day or two, so…"

"Exactly. See you later, then?"

"Yeah, sure."

Sephiroth watched them leave after not too much time, and then walked back inside. The rain was getting heavier, so it would probably be better to stay inside for now. At that moment, there really was nothing for Sephiroth to do, since his only clue as to where Hojo might be was Jenova, who was, of course, busy.

If only he knew how much he would soon wish for these boring yet serene moments…

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_**Alright! Now, before we get to the next chapter, I apologize; it's a **_**bit **_**angsty… Yeah… So, yeah. Review!**_


	37. Never Too Late

**-Disclaimer- We don't own any references used in this chapter. And **_**technically **_**we don't own the characters, even though I have one standing next to me, but never mind that.**

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_**Ooookay, so-**_

**A/N: Ahem...What are you doing?**

…_**Ohhhh, Gueniveir! What are **_**you **_**doing here!**_

**A/N: I live here…**

_**You do? Oh! Ahem, uh… By the way, you know it's writing this down, right?**_

**A/N: Oh, I know. Also, you want to know something else? **_**Someone **_**has been updating while I was figuring out Da Vinci's secrets…**

…_**How-**_

**A/N: It alerts me whenever the story gets updated, since it's **_**my **_**account. I was on the Earth – obviously – so my phone was able to hit the internet without me connecting it myself…**

_**Ummm… Sorry?**_

**A/N: Heh, well, it's too late to go back now. I'll just erase everyone's memories later. Now! Ready for the next chapter?**

…_**Yeah, whatever. I still can't believe that Sephiroth- Oh, never mind… This chapter depresses me… But hey, readers, if nothing else, you finally get some dark answers to questions you may have had about the past… You know, I was worried some of the readers would find this story to be getting too dark and violent… then I looked at some of their stories… Heh… Anyways, Guen, I already wrote the chapter, so you can post it whenever you want…**_

**A/N: Heh… Alright! Now, readers, as she said in the last chapter, this chapter is pretty depressing and angsty, with a lot of mentions of death, torture, and of course, suicide. Any guesses on who it will be that tries to take themselves out…? It may or may not be who you think based on what Jenova just said in the Author's Note… No? Alright, then. On that happy note… To the story!**

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_**Never Too Late**_

The rest of the day was fairly normal, and went by without any word from Jenova. Cloud expected to see her in his dreams again, but she wasn't there. The next day was normal as well; at least, at first.

Marlene had been spending the most time with Zack and Aerith. When the three of them weren't together, Aerith was either meditating and trying to see if Minerva would talk to her or resting, since she still wasn't back to her full strength. Zack was getting back into fighting, and had Cloud show him a few moves. Other than that, most of the day was fairly normal. Day, though. That didn't account for night…

All was silent except for the rain pounding on the roof, and nearly everyone was fast asleep in their warm beds. Cloud, however, was pacing around his room, just waiting for something to happen. Then, he heard a thud on the roof. Sephiroth, or Genesis perhaps? No, they probably would have called or something, or at least come in through the front door…

Cloud picked up his sword and cautiously crept out into the hallway. He quietly started up the stairs that led to the roof, wondering who it could be even though he had a few ideas. He paused, though, hearing something besides the relentless rain. He knocked on the door up to the roof, and everything besides the elements was instantly silent. He walked up to see Jenova standing there with her back to him. The rain was pounding now, and the bone-chilling wind wrapped itself around Cloud like an icy claw. Cloud wondered if this weather had anything to do with Jenova…

Cloud paused. "Was that you…?"

"No, of course not," she said, her voice quavering slightly. Cloud thought for a moment, trying to remember what he had heard. He hadn't heard her speaking; if he hadn't known Jenova so well, he would have almost sworn that he had heard her crying… But this was_ Jenova_, so that was unlikely… right?

"But-"

"It wasn't me," she quickly insisted, and Cloud shrugged.

"Alright then… Well, welcome back, finally. Why are you here now?"

"At night? Well, there was really nowhere for me to go. I assumed you would all be asleep by now…" She paused, turning around to face him, her eyes not nearly as bright as they normally were. Her eyes also held a wild look in them; not necessarily insane, really, just… not stable, either. "How is she…? Aerith? Or Aeris, whatever you call her?"

"Aerith, yeah… She's fine. Apparently, Marlene got help from her friends, or something, and gave Aerith her energy back."

"…Good. She knows how to use… That's good."

"Yeah, um, Jenova? Why would you even care about her? And I assume Chaos knows about her as well, so is she in danger…?"

Jenova took a deep breath. Her entire body was quivering, and Cloud could tell that it wasn't from the cold. "No; Chaos doesn't know that Aerith is back just yet. He suspects, but he doesn't know for certain. And, well, I care about her condition because…" She shook her head unhappily. "Never mind. It was just… all my fault. I feel as though I need to make up for what I did. But that's only the beginning."

Cloud set his sword down on the soaked roof, noticing that she had been glancing at the weapon every now and then while she spoke. Did she expect him to attack her…? If so, then why…? She watched his every movement like a wolf standing in front of a hunter, as though she wasn't sure if he was going to be kind or try to kill her. "Are you sure you're alright…? You seem a bit… off."

She started to take a step towards him, but the simple movement seemed to be too much for her. She winced and nearly fell to the floor, having to catch herself on the chimney. Still, though, she shook her head. "I… I'm fine. It's just that… I think that I finally realize something."

She glanced sideways at Cloud's sword, very carefully walking over to it, and yet still she winced with each step. She then picked up his sword easily enough. "I wonder… can I even…?"

Much to Cloud's complete surprise, Jenova wounded her arm with his sword. Pretty badly, too. Just one large, deep cut. But she didn't seem to even feel it. She set down his sword on the ground again, watching the blood drip down her arm with amusement. She seemed to stem the flow of the blood from the cut, but she didn't heal it. Weird…"So, then, that's true. Good. Immortal, perhaps, but not incapable of dying, it seems. …Since I have the same abilities as her, that means she should be similar to me. Of course, I probably should have figured that out, as I've killed multiple Guardians before. This… will be no different." She nodded. "Alright, then." She glanced back at Cloud. "Cloud, I should probably tell you… you should talk to Tiferet about your feelings."

He looked cautiously at her, surprised by the randomness of her comment. He was so surprised that he didn't even blush, like he probably should of. "What do you mean…?"

"You know what I mean. Just talk to her about it. You may be surprised by her reaction."

"Why are you telling me this now…?" he wondered out loud, slightly worried that she was suddenly intent on murdering him sooner than she had first expected. The wild, hunted look in her eyes had started turning into pure insanity, yet sincerity as well.

"Because I don't believe that we'll see each other for… a while…"

"Oh no… You _are _going to kill me soon, aren't you…?"

She looked away from him, hiding her expression. "No, I'm not. Not… you."

He shook his head. "Er... Mind explaining?"

"I'm not going to explain any more than I already have."

"Then, at least tell me… Why were you talking about killing the Guardians?"

She laughed. "Oh, you heard that comment? Well, the only one I haven't killed is, as you know, here. She is the last Guardian… and she shall die tonight."

Cloud froze. "You're serious about that? Doesn't Chaos need her? And if she's the last Guardian… shouldn't you let her live?"

"I… I tried. Trust me; I tried my hardest. But… It's time for the Guardians to end, and for the remaining planets to take care of themselves. After all, I knew this Guardian when I came here two-thousand years ago. She wasn't what a Guardian should be… and she's only gotten worse. So I've learned, of course. She's caused far more problems than she could ever fix… I've known that for a while, but I let her live. Now, though, I know that the world can fight without her." She used her left hand to trace a symbol over her heart; the same infinity that he had, by now, noticed on her necklace, which she was no longer trying to hide. "She has caused far too much pain in her life. And now… now, she must pay for it."

Before Cloud could say anything, she turned back to look at him, the strangest look in her eyes. "Goodbye, Cloud Strife. If I do this correctly, there is a good chance that we shall never meet again. Only if you mess up your part of the plan." She paused. "And, tell Sephiroth that it's up to him now. I… I do believe that I know what he was doing. He needs to continue on his path. Perhaps he has a chance…"

"And you can't tell him yourself? Does this Guardian have a chance at beating you…?"

She nodded. "Haven't you seen the way I've been acting? This Guardian has power equal to mine. Our power is second only to Chaos's power, it seems. I'm going to face her alone… and I am all but certain that we shall both die tonight."

Cloud stared at her. "You're joking, right?!"

"I would have thought that you wanted me out of the way? I'm perfectly serious, Cloud. I realize now that my entire life's purpose has been to kill the last Guardian. Chaos doesn't need me, I know. Or her." She smirked slightly at the last sentence.

"So you're just going to face off against this Guardian?! That's basically suicide, you know."

She paused for a moment, seeming to realize something. She then smiled sadly, yet her eyes were cold. The frigid winds whipped her hair around, but she didn't seem to mind as she looked at Cloud. "Yes. That's _exactly _what it is; what I do tonight will probably be suicide on my part. But that's my purpose. Don't try to figure it out, Cloud. There's no point." She nodded. "Oh, and tell Genesis that… I lied. I _do _care, and… I'm not alright with it. I said I no longer try, but… tonight, I'm going to end it all. He'll know what I mean, but I don't expect him to believe me, even after what he's seen. Minerva will know the truth, though. She always has…"

Cloud tried to think of all of the possible ways that he could stop her, but this was Jenova; once she wanted someone dead, they were as good as dead. "I know I can't stop you, but… At least think about it, alright? Maybe this doesn't need to happen. You can still keep this from happening; it's up to you, now. But… if you do decide to kill her, just remember that she's the innocent one. Anything she's done… I can tell just by how you talk about this person that she was forced by you and Chaos to do this all. So… If you're going to kill her, at least… don't hurt her more than you need to." He wasn't really sure what else to say. He knew how Jenova was by now; when she killed someone, she didn't do so painlessly.

She paused, silently watching the rain for a moment. She looked up at the sky, letting the rain hit her face, and then finally replied, much to Cloud's dismay. "I'm sorry, Cloud, but that cannot happen. There will be a death tonight, and the one who dies… I'll make sure she suffers as much as possible. Even though she already has these last few days… or, weeks… or rather, her entire life. You're right, you know; it wasn't her fault. But she's far from innocent. Without a choice, she succumbed to the darkness, and this... this is who she is now. And I need to end her life before she ends someone else's."

He couldn't even really be certain if she was talking about the Guardian anymore, as she was just saying 'she'. But he assumed that that was what she meant. Cloud started to say something, but she shook her head. "Good luck in your endeavors, Cloud Strife. I wish you and your friends well, should we never meet again. If we do meet again, then… Well, I don't know what that will mean for you all. But it will mean that I failed in killing the Guardian… the Guardian of Corruption."

"Isn't there a chance you could live while she dies, though?" Cloud interjected before she walked away. Jenova looked back at him.

"No. None," she said flatly. Then, without another word, she disappeared, a black mist enveloping her and then instantly evanescing, bringing her with it.

Cloud shook his head, debating what to do. He was suddenly exhausted, which meant Jenova must have taken his energy right before she left. But he couldn't just do nothing… So, in the end, since he knew he couldn't do much himself right now, he picked up his phone and called Sephiroth, walking inside and into his room so that the rain didn't drown out his words.

"_What…? Is something wrong?" _Sephiroth asked, sounding not-at-all worried.

Cloud sighed. "Maybe. Jenova showed up, and… Well, she started acting strangely, and then she decided that she needed to kill the Guardian. Which, she said, will most likely be the death of both of them."

"_Wait… what?!"_

"Yeah, exactly. I have no idea where either of them are now, but I thought that you might have a better chance at finding either of them than I do."

"_Yeah. If nothing else, I have a wider search range than you probably do. Plus, you sound exhausted, so I'm assuming Jenova drained you, which means you can't really do anything to help. I'll go find them both… We _need _the Guardian to stay alive. And Jenova, well… She's pretty important too, I suppose."_

Cloud smiled slightly. "Yeah, definitely. Alright. Good luck."

"_Thanks…" _Cloud quickly ended the call, shaking his head. He started to pace around, but nearly collapsed to the floor. He hadn't realized how much of his energy Jenova had taken…

Cloud sighed unhappily. Unable to do much else, he staggered over to his bed, glancing over at Tifa to make sure that she was still asleep. Then, he collapsed on his bed, passing out and hoping that Sephiroth found Jenova in time…

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth looked around the entire city. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but it had definitely been at least half an hour, most likely much more. He hoped that he wouldn't be too late… Luckily or not, he knew that Jenova liked to take her time when killing someone important, so hopefully he could use that against her for once…

Sephiroth finally made it back to the house he was staying at, just making sure of his position. He took off again, looking around the city hopelessly. Then, though, he felt as though someone was pulling him in a single direction. He paused, looking around, but there was nobody there. He recognized that feeling, though; it was the feeling he got whenever he was in or near the Lifestream. In other words, Minerva was telling him where to go. He'd always recognized her presence, and she'd never been afraid of him for some reason, even though he'd tried to kill her multiple times… Still, though, this time, he knew exactly why she was helping him: Jenova was going to kill the Guardian of the Planet, and technically, of the Lifestream. In other words, Minerva wanted to help save her Guardian in any way she could.

Sephiroth opened his mind, letting Minerva lead him. He'd never found it difficult to do… probably because he'd been in the Lifestream so much, right?

Finally, Sephiroth knew he was in the right area. He landed and banished his one wing, walking around the damp streets and looking around. He couldn't hear much else besides the rain, but, eventually, he heard Jenova talking from the top of a nearby building.

Sephiroth gripped Masamune tightly, climbing normally to the top of the building in order to be quieter. Jenova was there, on her knees, with her back turned to him. Her hair was soaked because of the pouring rain, which meant that she didn't care enough to protect herself from the downpour. Her two katanas seemed to have been thrown randomly, as they were resting nearby. Sephiroth noticed that Jenova had a cut on her arm that was bleeding pretty badly – and the rain was doing nothing to help – but she didn't seem to be paying it any attention. Nor did she seem to be paying _him _any attention. She was obviously focused on something, but… there was nothing and no _one _else that was up there besides the two of them. What was going on? Where was the Guardian…?

"_Damn it!_" Jenova snarled. "Damn katanas… why did he have to enchant them to guard me?! They can't even pierce my skin…"

…What was she saying?! She was trying to use her swords on herself…? Why?!

"Ugh… Can't use my own swords… Can't jump off of the mountain… I can't drown myself, as I've found out… I don't need to eat, or drink, so I can't starve myself… Poison doesn't work, since my own blood counteracts any poison… can't die of old age or sickness… monsters are all afraid of me… fire and electricity may hurt, but they can't kill me… Ugh, it's _so damn hard to kill yourself quickly!"_

Sephiroth froze when he heard what she was saying. She was trying to… kill herself?! Why would she want to commit suicide?!

Jenova hung her head, burying her face in her hands. "I can't… after all I've done, I can't even kill myself to make amends? Cantus… You would know what to do, wouldn't you? But you… But you can't help me… anymore… Not that you would, with this…" She shook her head. "Why can't you come back for good…? Sephiroth's done it… Cloud's done it… Chaos has done it… Cloud's friends have done it, thanks to Chaos, Minerva… and me. But you… you're gone… forever… because I was too slow. I… I tried… but he…" She shook her head. "When things are like this… who wants to live forever? Because I can't take it anymore… So, forever is up today…"

Sephiroth took a step forward on the wet gravel of the roof, but Jenova heard him. She snapped her head around and leapt to her feet, grabbing one of her nearby swords and nearly hitting him. He just barely pulled up Masamune, holding her sword against his. Both of them had a blade next to the other's neck, and Sephiroth was slightly worried by the wild look in Jenova's eyes that she was going to try to fight him. He noticed that she had winced, though, when she had jumped up, as though more than her arm was injured. Sephiroth would probably have a chance against her if she was wounded, but not the best one. Luckily, though, she realized that it was him and dropped her sword. "Sephiroth! What… what are you…?!" She shook her head, turning away as soon as he lowered Masamune. "I… I didn't want you to see me like this… Ever… When I'm weak…"

Then, she paused, turning around. She noticed again that Sephiroth had Masamune with him, and she smiled slyly, making him quite uneasy. "That's right… I'm weak right now… And you hate me, don't you?" She glanced over at her katanas. "And I won't fight back against you…" She nodded, holding out her hands to both sides. "So kill me."

Sephiroth froze, staring at her. "You… you want me to…?! Why?! Why are you trying to commit suicide?!"

"Technically, it's not suicide if you kill me of your own free will. And you have reason to. After all I've done to you, I'm honestly surprised you're not leaping at the chance."

He shook his head. "I… no! Perhaps I may want to kill you, one day. But not… not like this. Not when you won't even try to fight back at all. It just wouldn't be right."

She smirked. "Oh? If it were anyone else, they'd already be dead. You know it's true. But now, here I am, the one person you _want _to kill, and yet you're refusing when I give you the chance? Well, I'm not going to let you. I'm not letting you leave until you kill me. Understand?" She thought for a moment. "Hmm… I suppose I _could _make you… Would that be suicide? Huh…" She continued thinking, while Sephiroth was off in his own thoughts.

Sephiroth remembered how a slightly similar incident had happened after he had killed Aerith; something that he had been trying to forget for quite a while. In that case, he had been the one trying to kill himself. Cloud had thought that Sephiroth's real body had been the one in crystal, and Jenova had been leading them all around. But it had been much, _much _more complicated than that. Long explanations aside, Jenova had forced Sephiroth to kill Aerith, but he hadn't wanted to. So, afterwards, he had become slightly suicidal. Believe it or not, Jenova had realized that it had been her fault, and had actually comforted him. Go figure. That had been the first time that Sephiroth had realized that Jenova actually had a conscious – at least somewhat – and that she wasn't just simply a sadistic, homicidal maniac with a lust for blood. But now, Sephiroth knew that, although the situation was much more extreme and the positions were switched, the same thing had to happen.

Sephiroth thought for a moment. "At least tell me… why do you want to kill yourself? Cloud told me that you were going after the Guardian, but…"

Jenova shrugged, putting her hands down for a moment. "I was. But… Just as I found her, I realized… She's the only Guardian left. I've killed all the others… for no reason. Just because they were there. So many people have lost their lives because of me… and why? What for? I had no real reason, other than helping Chaos. I wasn't on his side, originally; but eventually, I knew his way was the way I was meant to go. I was forced, at first. For quite a while, actually. Just because of my race, and my power, he knew that he had to have me fight by his side. It wasn't my choice. I fought against him as hard as I could, but he had millennia to twist me, to shatter my resolve. The things he did to me, to break me…" She shuddered, then continued with her sentence. "But, after a while… Even now, I no longer fight against such evil. My mind has become twisted. I feel as though what I'm doing is right, now. And perhaps it is, for me. But, just now, I'm realizing that, perhaps, everything I've done hasn't actually been the right thing to do, even for me…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Alright… but you're only just now realizing all of that? Honestly? Why are you only now acknowledging it?"

She shrugged. "Because we're getting closer to the ending of this battle for the universe itself. And now I'm realizing what it has truly brought upon all living beings. The war is a scourge, invisible until the time to kill has come. And I am the one who brought that scourge to so many worlds, while Chaos watched. He may have orchestrated it all, but he rarely killed anyone. I did it all. I was his puppet, his destructive toy that only he could control. And now, now that Chaos has many of his past allies back, the universe will be powerless against him. The Cetra thought that, from what they knew, Chaos and Omega would bring about the end of this world, and that would be it. But they didn't know how much further it would extend. The entire universe will become a slave to Chaos's will. Normally, I'd be fine with that. And if I don't die now, I'll be fine with it again, soon. I don't know what's wrong with me, but…"

He paused. "Is this all because of seeing Cantus yesterday…?"

She shook her head. "Not at all." She took a deep breath. "Don't you see, though? At least there is one thing that has to do with him: I should have been the one to die… Not Cantus…"

"How _did _he die, anyways…?" He knew it wasn't a good subject, but he needed to stall until he figured out what to do.

Jenova closed her eyes, putting her hand over her amulet, which was visible for the first time. She didn't answer for a moment, simply letting the rain fall around her, and Sephiroth thought that she wasn't going to answer at all. Then, though, she took a quavering breath and started talking. "It… it wasn't his fault… He did nothing wrong, save comfort me, even after I had…" She shook her head. "He didn't care for himself; only me. You know now about my addiction… I had tried to fight it off for too long, and he knew that it was causing me pain, so instead of taking advantage of me like others – normally Chaos – did, he knocked me out, took me to a cave, and, once I woke up again, he let me have my way with him." He could tell she wasn't saying something, but he let her continue, as he knew that she wasn't lying and that she needed to tell someone about all of this. "I… I couldn't even control myself… Cantus was a strong person, you know; he could've taken normal torture with barely a wince. But you know how I am… I've had enough time over the millennia to learn how to break even the strongest beings… You should have seen him, the pain he was in… but he never once even thought about asking me to stop…"

She stopped talking again, having to take another deep breath before continuing. She obviously hated talking about this, but perhaps letting someone know about what she had done would help her even slightly… "In the end, I realized what I was doing and managed to take control of myself again, and I just broke down. And he… he didn't even care about what had just happened. He didn't care that I had just caused him more pain than even an immortal being should be able to survive through, even without many physical wounds. He comforted _me_. I didn't want him to see me so weak, but he didn't care. I tried to leave, but he didn't let me. Instead of hating me for what I had done to him and so many others, he just grabbed me and held me in his arms. He let me fall apart and never once thought that I was weak for showing emotion. Chaos, though… I found out not long after that Chaos knew what had happened. He wanted me to be an emotionless monster that he could control, so he took it upon himself to turn me into such a thing… He was going to punish me… for just showing emotion… but Cantus… He didn't think of himself again… He took my punishment instead, and let himself be killed to spare me the slightest bit of pain, even after I had just done such horrible things to him… Chaos took Cantus and disappeared, killing him somewhere else so that I couldn't stop him. I don't know what Chaos did to him while I couldn't see, but… Well, I tried to find them, but I got there too late. Cantus somehow survived through whatever Chaos did to him, but only long enough for me to find him… He died in front of me."

She shook her head, opening her eyes again and releasing her necklace. "That's why it's my fault: it should have been me under Chaos's blade, not Cantus. Chaos wouldn't have killed me, and Cantus would still be alive. Perhaps he would have won… perhaps he would have killed Chaos and I by now. I don't really know; all I know is that nothing should have happened as it did. And that, for everything I've done, I should be dead…" She sighed. "And if you don't kill me now, I suppose it won't matter. I'll be dead soon anyways… But I'd rather you kill me, and get your revenge, instead of letting me die by my own hand as I've tried to do before…"

Sephiroth was confused at first by what she meant, but he then remembered how badly her arm had been cut. He doubted that even she could survive losing too much blood, which was probably her backup plan. He may have hated her, but… there must have been a way to stop this…

Reluctantly, Sephiroth held the point of Masamune up to Jenova's heart. He looked at her cautiously, trying to figure out how to trick her to get her out of this. "Are you sure this is what you want…?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"I…" He started to lower Masamune, but he found that he was unable to do so.

Jenova narrowed her eyes. "You _will _kill me," she commanded him. "Do you understand me? For this one last time, you will _not _disobey me."

He knew that he wouldn't be able to resist her. Her hold was too strong. After a moment, she let her hold over him slip, but he knew that she would be able to control him again just as suddenly if he tried to get out of this. So he sighed and reluctantly nodded. "I… fine."

She nodded. Then, she seemed to have another thought. "And…" She looked at him with an odd, depressed look. "If you want to kill me slowly, I understand. I'm fine with suffering, if you're the one that causes it. I know that I deserve it, after what I've done to you throughout the years. So, honestly, I'd probably prefer it."

"…You'd _prefer _that I torture you to death…?"

She nodded. "Yes. This is your last chance to take revenge on me, and I'm fine if you do." She closed her eyes, bracing herself for what she obviously assumed was coming. He could tell by her tone that she was lying, and that she obviously didn't want to suffer, but who did? She just seemed to be putting her own feelings aside for now. "Do whatever you want to me; I promise that I won't fight back, even if I desperately want to. I'm prepared to take whatever you choose to do to me. I've gotten used to…" She quickly stopped herself, which was too bad, because Sephiroth wanted to know what she had almost said…

Sephiroth just kind of stared at her for a moment, debating his options since he could tell that she wasn't listening in. On one hand, he knew that he couldn't – or, at least,_ shouldn't_ _– _take advantage of her weakness. She had helped him the last time he had felt so weak – although, of course, that situation hadn't been so severe. On the other hand, though… here was the person that had caused him so much pain in his life, wanting him to torture her to death. He could do absolutely anything he wanted to her, and she wouldn't resist. He knew that he would never get another chance like this in his life.

Sephiroth shook his head unhappily, putting Masamune down silently on the ground and walking behind Jenova. She could obviously hear him walk behind her, as she visibly winced even though he hadn't even touched her. Sephiroth wasn't necessarily certain what she thought he was going to do to her, but she was obviously surprised by what he did instead.

Sephiroth wrapped his arms around Jenova, pulling her against him. Sephiroth could feel just how resistant she was at first, but she reluctantly relaxed, remembering her promise not to fight back. However, she was still slightly stiff. What did she honestly think he was going to do to her…?

"Don't worry," he quickly said to her, trying to calm her down. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Sephiroth felt Jenova's body relax slightly, although he could tell that a part of her consciousness was telling her that he was lying, even if he wasn't.

"Why, though…?" she asked, her voice slightly listless. How much blood had she lost…? She must have been struggling to keep her voice steady through her monologue. "Don't… don't you want to? I can tell that you… do… Everyone does… And I don't have much time left. I beg you… get your revenge now. I can't die knowing that… that I've done so much to you, but… but you never once let me know how it… felt…"

"No, Jenova; I'm not going to hurt you."

He felt her try to establish a hold over him again, but it was quite weak and he shattered it with barely a thought.

Sephiroth felt Jenova suddenly become too weak to even stand. Instead of letting her go, though, he fell to his knees as well. Jenova looked him in the eyes imploringly. "Please…?" she quietly begged, but he shook his head.

"No. I wouldn't do _that_ to you… at least, not when you're like this. Later, maybe." Of course, he highly doubted that he would ever harm her; he just wasn't as cruel as she was. But he wasn't going to let her know that…

"But this… this is your last chance…"

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "No, it's not. I'm not going to let you die, alright?"

She weakly shook her head. "You have no… choice. It's too… too late, now. If you refuse to… harm me… then at least let me say… that I'm… I'm sorry…" He could tell that there was something else she wanted to say, but she didn't get the chance.

Jenova's entire body became limp, and Sephiroth was honestly worried for a moment. But he could still just barely hear her breathing, which meant that she had merely fallen unconscious. But it wouldn't be like that for long, if he didn't act quickly…

Sephiroth picked Jenova up in his arms, easily jumping off of the building and quickly getting back to his own. He gently set her down, walking over to where he had hidden the materia he had stolen from Cloud back in Nibelheim. It was a bit anticlimactic, but he honestly didn't care.

Sephiroth knew that he could probably heal Jenova by himself, but he doubted that it would have done enough. The materia itself was weak, but it could hopefully help amplify his own magic just well enough to stop Jenova from bleeding to death…

Sephiroth knelt down over Jenova, holding his hand over her injured arm and focusing all of his energy. Healing wasn't his specialty, but it would have to do for now.

Then, the weirdest thing happened. His healing was weak, but he suddenly felt as though someone was aiding him. He was able to use this energy to at least heal Jenova's skin, but she would have to do the rest by herself as he didn't know how bad her wound was beneath the surface. He tried to heal her entirely, but he was met with some strange kind of resistance, so he just had to heal the part of her wound that he could see. Luckily, it seemed that she had been able to subconsciously heal what he hadn't, as Sephiroth soon saw what color she normally had starting to return to her skin. He sighed with relief, tossing the materia to the side. He noticed that her skin absorbed any of her blood that was still on it, somehow. But… that wasn't the only thing he noticed. There were also a few other wounds visible where her sleeve was torn that, for some reason, hadn't healed. Her sleeve was open from just below her shoulder down to her wrist, so he could see just how bad her wounds were. How many times had she slashed herself?! And not only were there slash marks, but there were plenty of bruises as well. Also, there was a burn mark wrapped around her wrist, as though she had been wearing some sort of burning bracelet. Had she done this to herself?! He knew now that she was clinically depressed, but still…

Sephiroth tried to use his own abilities to heal the wounds on her arm, but he was met with the same strange resistance as before. Unlike before, he couldn't heal these wounds even slightly. He also noticed that, even in her sleep, Jenova tensed up whenever he tried to heal her, as though he was hurting her instead. What had she done to herself…?

Sephiroth sighed, shaking his head unhappily. He quickly picked her back up. She was still unconscious, but that was most likely due to the fact that, according to her – Sephiroth had heard her back in Nibelheim – she hadn't slept in… well, quite a while. She probably needed the rest.

Sephiroth carried her upstairs, setting her down gently on the bed. He put the sheets over her, turning to walk away. He decided that he would probably have to tie her up once she woke up, but for now, she just needed to rest. And so, Sephiroth sighed and walked away, hoping that he would be able to figure out a way to convince her to keep on living when they next spoke…


	38. What I've Overcome

_**-Disclaimer- It has been disclaimed.**_

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_**HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT?! You get to be in the point of view of the best character in the story! Because this chapter is a bit past-oriented, with you-know-who telling Sephy quite a lot… Unfortunately, this is probably the only time you'll get to be in my point of view, because otherwise, it would give the ending away… We'll see. It's going to be in first-person for this chapter, so just be prepared for that switch. Oh, and this chapter is angsty and dark as well, but that's just how my mind normally is. Hazza, this chapter may or may not answer your question… see, the answer is 'no' based on a technicality… Anyways, the story will stay pretty somber from here on out, but it will start getting lighter after this chapter… sort of. Because hey, after Hojo, the Remnants come in… We all know that that will be amusing now that I'm there... hehe… Anyways! Oh, and hello, new followers. Just… how many times must I beg you to review? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease? I mean, really. Even just something like 'Nice chapter' or 'Meh, it needs something more' or even 'WHAT THE HECK WHY DO YOU HATE JENOVA SO MUCH TO MAKE HER HAVE SUCH A HORRIBLE PAST WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!' Any of that would be fine.**_

**A/N: Please don't make me regret this…**

_**I won't! **_**OH BY THE WAY, READERS!**_**I'm thinking about uploading my past to this site within the next chapter or so… yes or no? It's a dark story, but it sheds a lot of light on the storyline itself, without giving away the ending. However, because of certain violent scenes that I may include, it may teeter between 'T' and 'M', though I may try to dial it down a bit. So, yes or no? Okay, Guen, go ahead.**_

**A/N: Alright… To the story… Oh dear goddess…**

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_**What I've Overcome**_

_Of course, as always, everything around me was dark. In fact, I wasn't really in control of myself at all. Was I dreaming…? I never dreamt… Well, of course, I never slept either, but whatever. Whenever I _did _sleep, I normally just had flashbacks of my past… which was why I tried to never sleep…_

_The darkness didn't last for long, though, as there was suddenly a light in my vision._

The second I woke up, I wasn't quite sure of my surroundings. I heard a gentle rain outside, but it didn't seem to be out of the sadness of the Planet. Hadn't I killed the Guardian…? Or no, I almost had. Or… what _had _happened last night? Obviously, the Guardian was still alive, or I definitely would have known, so… Well, I must have fought _someone_, because my arm hurt quite badly… But why couldn't I remember?

After a moment, I realized that my hands were tied behind my back. Immediately, I freaked out and tried to break myself free with my magic, but found that my own abilities were out of my grasp. Why couldn't I use them?!

Not being able to escape made me even more worried as I struggled to get out. I couldn't really help myself, as the last time I'd been tied up… Well, it didn't end very well for me. Or the universe. I was so freaked out right now, though, that I didn't even look around to see where I was.

"Whoa, Jenova! Calm down!" I heard someone say off to the side. Wait… was that Sephiroth!? I felt his hand on my shoulder as he held me steady, trying to calm me down.

I took a deep breath and reluctantly calmed myself, sitting up on my knees. I realized that I was on a bed for some reason, even though I couldn't quite see yet. Finally, my vision cleared, and I looked around. I was in the bedroom of the apartment Sephiroth was hiding out in, and he was standing right in front of me, looking at me with both concern and quite a lot of caution. Heh, good; he knew just how much peril he was in by trying to control me. Of course, I'd never kill him no matter how much I threatened to, but he could never know that…

Sephiroth nodded. "Alright, good. …Are you sane right now?"

I glared at him, making him take a step back. I smirked. "What kind of a question is that?! I'm no less sane than I normally am. Now would you mind telling me what's going on?!"

He paused. "You… don't remember?"

I shrugged. "No… I remember telling Cloud that I was going to kill the Guardian, and then I teleported away… That's all I remember. How long has it been?"

He nodded. "That's… odd, that you don't remember. Er, yesterday, perhaps, would make sense. But… Well, I suppose it's possible for someone to block out traumatic experiences…" I gave him a questioning look, but he just continued with answering my original questions. "Anyways, you've been here all… yesterday, as well as the night before that. And, er… Just so you know, you kind of tried to… kill yourself."

Much to his – and my own – surprise, I burst out laughing. "Oh, so I _did_?! But… Why didn't I succeed?"

"Well, that would be because of me. I stepped in just in time, luckily…"

"You believe it's lucky that you saved my life? Hah! You should have let me die…" I couldn't help it; I hated myself. More than anyone could possibly hate anyone else. Ever since I had first started killing innocents, I had wanted nothing more than to feel the pain I inflicted upon them. Chaos had granted that wish far more than he needed to, of course, but I didn't feel as though that counted. And sure, everyone I killed would have been resurrected by now; being the race that I was, anyone who was innocent that died by my hand would be resurrected either as a higher form of life or with a better life than they had had before. But I didn't care about that; the only thing that mattered was that I had killed them.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I had a feeling you would say that. Which is why I'm not going to leave you until you decide to live."

I smirked. "Why do you suddenly care about me so much…? I thought you wanted me dead?"

He sighed unhappily, looking out the window and watching the rain fall. "Once, yes. But, after everything you told me... Now, I'm not really so sure."

I froze. How much had I told him?! This wasn't good… not at all… Had I told him about being an Ayanumi?! More importantly, had I told him what that was?! That would be bad… really bad… "Er… How much did I tell you?"

He chuckled slightly. "Well, judging by that reaction, I'd say 'not everything'. Basically, you told me about what had happened with Cantus, for one thing. You also told me… Well, you told me that, in a sense, you're like me. That you weren't evil originally, but Chaos wanted you for whatever reason, so he eventually broke you and forced you to do everything that you've done so far."

"Ohhhh… I told you that? …Give me a moment while I think of an excuse…"

He turned back to look at me. "There's no need. The fact that you weren't always evil is actually not that much of a surprise. It was the fact that you were twisted by Chaos that caught me off-guard… Is he really stronger than you? If not… why don't you ever fight against him? Maybe you could still change…"

I almost laughed, but didn't. Didn't he think that I'd _tried _that by now? I honestly wasn't sure who was stronger, as I'd never had the chance to find out. I remembered that I'd faced Chaos once when I first met him, but it wasn't really fair as I had never fought against anyone other than in training. Plus, he hadn't been interested in fighting; all he'd wanted was me. At the time, he'd merely wanted me dead. But then he found out what I could do… "Heh, sure. Believe what you want; I'm far too into this to change my mind now." He'd never understand what I meant, though… After all, how could he?

I sighed. "Now, will you let me go?! So that I can _freaking kill you_?!" I paused. Did he know that I didn't have my abilities…? "I mean, of course, I could break out myself, but…"

Sephiroth smiled slightly. "Ah, no, you can't, and I assume that you know that by now. Sorry, but because of yesterday, I had to subdue you…"

"How did-"

He nodded over at the table nearby, where there were vials of the poison Hojo had concocted. Heh… Like father like son, eh? "Oh… Wait, didn't I tell you not to go back for that stuff?!"

"Heh, yes, but you really thought I'd listen…?" He paused. "It's some sort of tainted mako, right? How does that stuff even work on you?"

Well now, I wasn't about to tell him _that_. Knowing that truth would mess just about _everything _up. But I could, at least, tell him a version of the truth… "Meh, it interferes with my power. It's not technically a real poison, so my blood can't fight it off."

"Ah."

"By the way… What _did _happen 'yesterday'? You keep on saying that something happened…"

He rubbed the back of his neck, so I immediately tried to tap into his mind, forgetting that I was unable to. The inability to do what I could do best made me feel quite hollow, honestly. My abilities were the only things I could rely on anymore…

"Well, er, you see… Um… You went kind of… insane? Like, _really _insane. I didn't even think you knew who anyone was anymore, and you were convinced beyond doubt that I was going to hurt you… Also, you kept on mentioning something about the some goddess of the Light. I tried to ask you what you meant, but you never really regarded me…"

I smirked. That's all I told him? Good. "I did, eh? Did I say anything else?"

"Hmmm… Oh, yeah, you were also convinced that Chaos was going to hurt you for showing weakness. Oh, and… When I first tried to inject you with the mako, you said, 'I knew you'd become just like him… Just like your father… I'm nothing but an experiment to you.' Mind explaining?"

"…Great…" I winced. Why did my arm hurt so badly…? Sephiroth seemed to notice this, and just kind of looked away. What did he know…? I realized for the first time that my sleeve was torn open, and immediately made sure that my skin wasn't visible to him. Had he already seen what Chaos had done to me over the past few days…? Well, past few days before two days ago, apparently. Was such a large amount of time really missing from my memory…? Sephiroth had said that perhaps I had blocked it out because of a traumatic experience, but if I could do that, I wouldn't have remembered my entire life. "Well, er… I promise I'll tell you eventually, but for now, we have more important things to focus on…"

He smirked. "Of course… Are you _ever _going to tell me about my original parents? Your friend, Cantus, confirmed for me that you and I aren't related, so I know that my real parents are out there somewhere…"

_**Well, yeah, technically. One of them is trying to kill us, and the other is frozen in crystal in some cavern somewhere. So yeah! They're out there somewhere… Le sigh…**_

"Oh, he told you that, did he…? Well, yeah, I guess I wasn't hiding it too well, anyways…" I shrugged. He didn't really need to know the specifics; he knew, and that was that. You may want to know the reason for that, of course. Well, simply put, you know how everyone used to call me an 'it'? Even Ifalna, an actual Cetra? Or, well, she actually said 'he' in one of the versions of your games, but she said 'it' in real life. Anyways, well… they weren't exactly _wrong_, even though it always ticks me off anyways. You see, scientifically, I have no real gender, even though I'm a woman by my race's standards – the only one, actually. Beings of my race have no reproductive organs, as we have no need for them, seeing as how we're immortal. And so, scientifically speaking, no Ayanumi has a real gender. However, our technical 'gender' is determined by our original form. Anyways… what was my original point? Meh, you can probably figure it out somewhere in that. Wait a minute! …Was that a monologue?! I hate monologuing. Wow, I change subjects quickly. Great. Add A.D.H.D. to my long, long list of mental disorders… Squirrel! Haha, no, but seriously…

He shook his head. "No, you weren't." He paused, then, his expression turning quite serious. "By the way… Why were you so freaked out when you didn't realize what was going on a few minutes ago? I could tell it was because you were tied up… but why?" He wasn't telling me something… What wasn't he telling me?!

I shrugged. "Oh, I just hate feeling like a captive. Hojo and everything, you know?" _**Please don't see my lie… **_Although, really, it was pretty obvious…

But Sephiroth sighed, sitting down next to me. He pulled out his sword and cut the ropes that were binding me, much to my surprise. Immediately I leapt up, pressing him against the wall. But he only smirked and easily overpowered me, sitting me back down on the bed. I hated being weak…

Sephiroth shook his head, continuing as though nothing had happened. "No… I mean, perhaps, but… I don't think that that's true. Yes, I assume you'd hate Hojo, but he didn't do too much to you, did he? And even if he did, I highly doubt he ever tied you up." He looked me in the eyes, much to my surprise. Only Cantus and Chaos had ever dared to keep eye contact with me; Cantus because I allowed him to, and Chaos because he never wanted me to think I could possibly be more powerful than him. "Jenova, I saw your expression for the first few seconds after you realized you were tied up, and you… you were terrified. I'd never even known you could feel fear, but… apparently so. What happened in your past that would possibly make you react like that…?"

I looked away from him quickly; the first time I'd looked away from anyone except for Chaos in so, so long. But I couldn't let him see how I felt about him bringing that up… I've told you that I wasn't on Chaos's side at first, right? That he had to force me to be? I don't really want to go into details… If you've ever heard or looked up the lyrics to this song called 'Escape' by some band named Fireflight – one of Guen's friends showed it to us about a month ago – then you'll get the basic idea of what happened and what was going through my mind. If not, then let's just say that he knocked me out, and I woke up, tied-up and blindfolded, in a place I'd never seen before, unable to get out. I tried, but it was impossible. And I tried to stay strong, but with everything that was done to me… all the pain I went through… I'd be incredibly surprised if anyone lasted as long as I did without breaking. And then, after that… Well, like I said: I don't really want to go into the details about what happened, so I'll just continue with the dialogue instead of monologuing _again_… Have I ever monologued before? I don't think so, right? I sure hope not… I hate monologues… _Oh I get it now! _The rooms on the outside were rounded, so that means…! Hah! That's why… okay… Sorry, ignore my random rant; you'll get it if I ever post my past. Although, that chapter's a bit… disturbing… Whoops, sorry, got off track.

"I, uh… Wait, why am I being interrogated by _you_? You should be the one afraid of _me_…"

He smirked. "It's hard to fear you when you can't do anything…"

I grinned at him. "Oh, I may not have my magic, and I may be weaker than normal, but I assure you that I'm not at your mercy right now… And if you test me, you'll see that fact."

"No, I know you're not powerless. Perhaps the real reason I don't fear you right now is because… Well, you've always been in control of me, and you rarely used to say anything that wasn't a taunt or a command. Now, though… I've never seen you acting so… I don't know. Civil? Human, maybe?"

"Yeah, whatever…"

"So, while you're like this, I want to ask you… Why did you start helping Chaos, anyways…?"

I sighed unhappily. Why was he so obsessed with this?! "Well, it's a bit of a dark story, so I'll just give the basics… Really, Chaos captured me and… tortured me… slowly but surely chipping away at my sanity. And then, when he knew I was finally about to break… I don't know what happened, really. I was insane; I know that, now. I thought there were voices and wraiths all around me… You should have seen those things. Their faces… like some kind of cracked, unpainted porcelain doll… but I don't know. It might have been my imagination, or something Chaos did… I really don't know. But anyways, these things drove me deeper into insanity, and then I killed the Guardian of the planet we were on without really knowing what I was doing. He wanted death, of course, but still… to kill a Guardian! When I was still good! It… it shattered my mind. What was left of it, anyways. Chaos used some kind of weird psychological trick with me, getting me to think he was the only one I could trust. And that's how things continued, for a while."

"That's not how it still is…? You guys are still working together, aren't you?"

"Well, yes, we are. It's just that, after a while, I realized that I was hurting people… And it hurt _me_, to see what I was doing. So I started becoming slightly more rebellious, going back to my good self. Chaos, though, noticed this, becoming far more controlling. If I would refuse to kill someone, he'd hurt me until I broke and did what he said. That's really how it was when I refused _anything_ he said. He conditioned me like some sort of dog, and I got used to it, eventually becoming insane again. Then, I started getting addicted to hurting people, and that completely killed any chance I had at becoming good again. This is who I am, now. Sometimes, I still protect people that I feel don't deserve to die, but then I switch back and end up hurting them instead of killing them, which may just be worse. Don't try to change me, though, Sephiroth. You would have had to have gotten to me about a million years ago. Most people think that you'll always have the same mindset deep within you for at least most of your life, but that's not true when you have millennia to be twisted. My mind has completely changed. In the far past, I tried to give my life to protect the people I cared about, but that quite obviously backfired… Now, though, I love causing as much pain as I can to most living beings; it's what I live for." I sighed. "I know, though… I know that they don't deserve it… This universe has much corruption in it, but there are still beings out there… beacons of light. Beings that will protect others, even if it costs them their own lives… I just don't get why, though. Why do you humans feel content with giving your lives for others? It never turns out well; I've found that out for myself."

Sephiroth shrugged. "Who knows? Everyone's different… There are multiple factors that determine someone's personality, really. For now, though… I just find it so hard to believe that you of all people were ever on our side…"

I nodded. "Oh yes, I was quite the crusader in the past. If only you could see who I used to be before the change… who I was trying my hardest to be… You see, my race is quite a lot like the Guardian's; meant to protect the universe we exist in. However, I was stronger and much more powerful than any other of my race, and Chaos liked that… And so, here I am today."

"Huh… That's it, then. I'm going to find a way to change you back. I have to. And if I can, then there's no possible way that Chaos can win," he said, much to my surprise. Was… was he serious? Ha! Like _that _was possible!

Sephiroth sighed, looking out the window as it rained. "So… What now?"

I shook my head. "Now, I need to leave. You can try to stop me, but you won't be able to. I do best by myself; I always have."

"But-"

I silenced him with a single look, and he reluctantly nodded. I smirked, standing up and grabbing my swords from nearby. He started to try to stop me again, but I pressed one of my swords at the base of his neck, shooting him a warning glare. "I may not have my magic right now, but I still have my swords, and I'm still a sadist. So you'd do well to not try my patience, especially right now. Just be glad that I'm in a somber mood at the moment…"

With that, I walked out, quickly making my way outside. Without the ability to teleport, I just sighed and walked through the streets of the condemned city, letting the rain fall around me. What was I to do now…?

Unfortunately, because of being both weak and concentrated on my own thoughts, I didn't notice that there was suddenly someone behind me. And I didn't realize it for a while… until the last thing I expected happened. I was suddenly grabbed harshly from behind, and I felt a sharp pain in my neck. There was a burning feeling in my bloodstream and, within about a second, my world turned black.

* * *

_**Also… Our hearts go out to any innocents that have died recently, as well as their families and friends. This goes for all deaths, and not just the ones on the news. When we're in your world, Guen and I live near where those two police officers, Elizabeth and Butch, were killed, so obviously, that hit us pretty hard. But we know that they aren't the only ones who have died recently, so we're deeply sorry for the family and friends of everyone who has died… Alright, thanks for listening to my little dedication…**_


	39. Beast Within

**-Disclaimer- I don't own Final Fantasy or any of the In This Moment references. If you've noticed, the bands Jenova quotes tend to reflect her personality at that moment…**

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_**Aw, Hazza, you never fail to review. –Hands him the internets for the day- And sheesh, you seem to have a slightly dark sense of curiosity, which, being me, I find cool. Oh, and we have new reviewers and followers! –Hands them cookies-**_

**A/N: Heh, sorry, she's a bit spazzy. Now! Lots about Jenova in these next few chapters, so I'm probably going to put up her past soon, assuming you guys would actually like that. If you wouldn't read that, tell me, so that I don't have to waste Time going in and cleaning it up a bit, hehe… Nah, I'm just kidding; it's not **_**that **_**violent, but still… It gives a lot away, such as where she's from, how she knows the Guardian, how she met Cantus, et cetera. Or should I say- Nah, I think I've already done that. Alright, to the story!**

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_**Beast Within**_

Sephiroth paced around the same area where he, Cloud, and Genesis normally met, waiting for them to arrive. They needed to know what had happened… Everything, too. And not just what he had told Jenova… the important part was what he _hadn't_ told her. About what she had told him… and why… He was just so lucky that she hadn't had her telepathy, or he would have probably died a painful death…

Finally, Genesis showed up first. Cloud showed up moments later, so Sephiroth assumed that Genesis had been following him. Cloud had wanted to bring Zack and perhaps Aerith, seeing as how they were such a large part of this, but Sephiroth had decided that it should probably only be the three of them to deal with Jenova.

Cloud shook his head. "What happened with Jenova?! It's been two weeks!"

Sephiroth nodded. That was the first thing he hadn't told Jenova: she'd been hopelessly insane for two whole weeks, and not only a day. He had hoped that she would have stayed and not run off because of her weakness, but he should have known better… "I know, I know, I should have said something, but I was trying to isolate her." He sighed at their dubious looks. "The Guardian's fine… I think. Jenova said she didn't kill her. Meanwhile… Jenova _did_ try to kill someone… herself."

Cloud and Genesis just stared at him. Genesis shook his head. "She didn't succeed, right?! No, of course not, because then you wouldn't have had to have isolated her. Plus, Minerva would have told me. What happened?"

"Well…" he said. "It's a bit of a… long story…"

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Sephiroth sighed, pacing around the room as Jenova lay unconscious nearby. He himself hadn't gotten too much sleep last night, as he had been slightly worried about Jenova waking up and murdering him…

Finally, after a moment or two more, Sephiroth turned around to face Jenova, only to see that she was sitting upright and watching him, with one of her swords sitting on each side of her. They had been on the other side of the room… how had she…? Well, it didn't really matter at that moment; what mattered was that she had them. Sephiroth also noticed that Jenova's hair had fallen naturally so that it covered her right eye, which was odd…

Jenova watched Sephiroth with amusement. "Well, hello." She paused. "Who are you again…? Oh! You. Yes, I know you." She looked confused. "But… Why am I allowing you to see my… Oh, never mind…"

Sephiroth looked at her with caution, still hanging on the beginning of her sentence. "You didn't remember me…?"

"Psh, I do _now_. I just haven't been in this mindset for a while… I'm Jenova. But you know that, I think."

Sephiroth paused. Was she saying that she had a double personality…? "Er… and who are you normally…?"

"Well, Jenova, of course! _But _I'm not normally like this."

"You mean that you have a double personality…?"

"I suppose so! I don't switch over too often, though. Normally when I'm starting to go feral, really."

"…Feral? You mean because of your addiction…?" He took a cautious step back when she grinned.

"Correct! Hehe… But I haven't snapped yet, so you've no reason to worry… much! Or, actually…. Hehe, you're right: my addiction is starting to take a hold of me, and I can't allow that!"

She leapt at him, pinning him against the wall before he could even fight back. "You're right, you know. I must confess: I'm addicted to this! And I can't deny, you know, that I'd probably die without this." He tried to get away from her, but she only laughed. "The more you struggle, the more it will hurt!"

Finally, it dawned on him. Not only was she in a different mindset, but… "My goddess, you're completely insane."

"Maybe so!" She giggled slightly, trying to cut him, but he jumped to the side just in time. "Aw, come closer. Just a little cut, I promise!" She tried to strike again, much more quickly than Sephiroth expected. However, he somehow managed to get out of the way, using Masamune to block her before she could strike again. As she wasn't very stable, he managed to get her swords away from her. He tackled her now, pressing her against one of the other walls.

She scowled at him. "When the time comes, your death will not come swiftly. I can guarantee that!" He pressed Masamune against her throat a bit more, and she pouted. "Hey, now. I'm sanctioned by the Goddess of the Light; you can't hurt me."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you…"

"Oh? Are you so certain?" She shrugged, and then grinned wickedly again, a sadistic glint dancing in her eyes – or, at least, the one of her eyes that Sephiroth could see. "Then you'd best give in to me instead, before I have to make you… I did already, didn't I?"

He shrugged. "Well now, I wouldn't know. I know you somehow forced me into submission back in Nibelheim, but it seems that I _somehow _don't remember what happened…"

"Hehe… Oh yes, that would be my fault… Why did I do that again? Oh _yeah_! Hehe, well, first off, I showed you my real form. You know, since I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to kill you, and everything! _But _I also told you about what I was! Which I cannot have you knowing yet! The identity of the last Ayanumi must remain secret above all else, you know!"

Sephiroth paused. "…Ayanumi…? What's that…?"

"Hmm? Where'd you hear that?" she asked, the look in her eyes wild and far-off. He was slightly worried… Then, though, Sephiroth remembered that he had been working on multiple versions of the poison Hojo had made that would be able to block Jenova's abilities. It seemed to be really just some kind of tainted mako, and honestly, Sephiroth wasn't sure why something from this planet would have such an effect on her, but oh well. Anyways, if he could make certain that she wouldn't be able to kill him, then perhaps he would be able to get control of her until her insanity faded; if it ever did, of course…

A slight smile tugged at the corners of Jenova's lips. "You're going to do what to me, now…? I didn't catch the beginning of that…"

Sephiroth sighed. "Gah, you're always in my mind… I seriously hate you, you know…"

She grinned. "Aw, come now. We both know that you love me for everything you say you hate me for… After all, I'm the one that you need and fear, yeah? You know it's true…"

He rolled his eyes. "Not at all. Now, er… stay here." He let her go and quickly made his way over to a nearby cabinet while she watched curiously. Without her being able to see, he quickly pulled out one of the vials of the poison, hiding it behind his back as he walked back to her.

Jenova suddenly looked serious, though. "Aw, great, is Chaos going to hurt me again…?"

Sephiroth looked at her curiously. "Er… huh?"

"Heh, for showing weakness, of course! Perhaps it's best, though; I wouldn't want myself falling prey to emotions again, now, would I? That'd just be bad! I might try to kill myself again! Or worse: I might actually join _your_ side! Hah!"

"Yeah, right, that'd be oh so awful…"

"Speaking of which!" She gave him a warning glare. "You'd better just be pretending to aid them, you know. I won't have you betraying me…"

He shrugged. "We'll see."

She started to say something, but then narrowed her eyes. "What are you going to do to me…?"

"Er… what do you mean?"

She smirked, a devilish glint in her eyes. "I may be insane, but I'm not at all stupid. I can tell well enough when someone is trying to make some sort of move against me…"

He sighed. "Yes, perhaps you're right. You see, when you're like this, you may completely snap, which I can't have. So, I'm just going to weaken you for a bit, and let you stay here until you're sane again."

"Hah!" she said, although her tone was slightly more cautious. "Good luck with that! How do you plan to-"

Before she finished her sentence, Sephiroth quickly grabbed her wrist, turning her around and pressing her against the wall. Much to his surprise, she cried out in pain and didn't fight against him. Why…?

Jenova saw the vial Sephiroth was holding, and laughed darkly. "I knew you'd become just like him… Just like your father… I'm nothing but an experiment to you…"

Sephiroth paused. "My… father? What do you mean…?"

She giggled. "Oh, wouldn't _you_ like to know! You'll figure it out, eventually…" She tried to twist out of his grip, but he tightened his hold so as to hold her still. Again, much to his surprise, she cried out from the simple action, and Sephiroth finally remembered just how badly her arm had been injured last night; he must have been holding her right where one of her strangely unhealable wounds was. She laughed again, though. "You can hurt me all you want, but you'll never get anything from me…"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. Why was she so quick to assume he wanted to interrogate her…? "For the last time: I'm _not _trying to hurt you. I'm just trying to keep you still…"

With slight guilt, he tightened his grip on her wrist again until he felt her resistance to him lessen considerably. He quickly injected her with the mako and let her go almost immediately, causing her to have to catch herself on the wall. "This… isn't over, yet…" she growled before falling unconscious, being unused to the poison. Sephiroth quickly caught her, still feeling guilty about hurting her. He wasn't sure why, though, as she had never felt guilty about hurting him… right?

Sephiroth sighed unhappily and set Jenova back down on the bed again, sitting down against the wall when he was sure she was really unconscious. Great, so now he'd have to stay here with her until she was sane again… Should he tell Cloud and Genesis? No… No, he'd do this by himself. After all, in the end, Jenova had much more to do with him than the others, as his whole existence was really because of her…

And so, really, that was how things continued for the next two weeks. Instead of getting better, though, Jenova's insanity just became worse with every day until the point that it seemed she really didn't know who Sephiroth was. She didn't even seem to know herself anymore. She did, however, keep on mentioning Cantus, and Sephiroth wondered whether or not it would be worth it to see if he was still at the Forgotten City; however, in the end, he had decided against it, as that probably would have just made things worse. Sephiroth just didn't get how this had all happened… Surely, there had been some sort of catalyst that had driven Jenova into this insanity, but what…?

Jenova seemed to realize her condition, as Sephiroth would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to hear her crying softly, and he always felt bad for her. He also felt awful about using her wounds against her on more than one occasion when she had started to become dangerous even without her abilities. Sephiroth tried to keep her under control by simply talking to her, but that only worked for so long. After a week and a half, he had finally decided to tie her up, as she seemed beyond saving at that point; he just had to hope that she could work it out for herself. Unfortunately, she must have been in a similar yet more extreme position in her traumatic past, as she became far worse after he tied her up. Once she realized that she couldn't get out, though, she just kept on murmuring her deceased friend's name as though trying to contact him. Sephiroth had started sitting next to her and just talking to her, and she had started seeming slightly more receptive of his words after a while. She had even started talking about her own past, although she didn't go into anything she hadn't told Sephiroth the night she had tried to kill herself; however, it was enough.

Also, one of the times she had spoken about her past, she _did _say something that caught Sephiroth's attention, although she only muttered it. It seemed to be one of those things that she would quote and nobody would understand, but still, everything she quoted had been true to the moment, so he assumed that this was as well. She had just been lying on her side while he had been asking her questions about what he knew about her past, and she had suddenly whispered, "You don't know how hard I fought to survive, waking up alone when I was left to die… You don't know about this life I've led, all these roads I've walked, all these tears I've bled… And now… How can this be? How did it come to this? There's a look in your eyes, I know just what that means… No, not that, but… you think I've fallen… you think I'm done. So do they… You'll see, they'll see… everyone will see… And they'll wish… they'll wish that they hadn't left me to die… They'll listen to what I say next time. No… they'll wish that they'd killed me on their own…" And she had just laughed, not seeming to have even realized that Sephiroth had been next to her the whole time…

And then, of course, after the second week passed, Jenova had finally come back to her senses, and that was that.

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Cloud and Genesis were silent for a moment. Finally, Cloud spoke up. "Oh… So, where is she now?"

Sephiroth started to speak, but then a voice echoed in all of their minds. _You should not have let her go, Sephiroth! He has her, now! And she could not even fight back because you were keeping her weakened!_

They all looked around, startled. Genesis shrugged. "Well, there you go, courtesy of Minerva… But… _who _has Jenova…? Chaos?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No; Minerva wouldn't have told us if Jenova was with Chaos, as that's where she normally is. And there's only one more person I can think of that would want to capture her…"

They all nodded, and spoke unanimously. "Hojo."

Sephiroth sighed unhappily. "It's time to end this. He's probably right back where he was last time, except now, he has probably the most powerful being in this world – perhaps the universe – at his mercy. And this time, she's not in a coma… who knows what he'll do to her? What he already has, even? She's been gone for hours…"

Genesis paused. "Sephiroth… Minerva said that you weakened Jenova… How?"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Well, I had to keep her sedated so that she didn't escape and murder anybody, so I finished that 'poison' that Hojo had used on her. It's odd, really… The poison is some kind of tainted mako. How would that affect her at all…?"

Genesis froze. "You're certain that you analyzed it correctly? Of course you did, since you were the one using it… Which means that Hojo must know who she is by now…" He shook his head. "We have to get to them, _now_. Before he can do anything to her. Because of her past, Jenova has an odd connection to the Planet, which is why the mako works on her. She's gotten used to the constant pull of the Lifestream, and has shifted her abilities to accommodate it. With the tainted mako in her bloodstream, her connection to the Lifestream is shattered, and it makes her unable to use her abilities in this world. At least, that's most of it. The rest of it has to do with her race… which means that Hojo must know exactly who she is."

Cloud paused, looking at him. "And, since this is quite important… Who is she, exactly?"

Genesis sighed. "She's... Well, she's a being called an 'Ayanumi', which is j-"

_You can explain later, Genesis._

Everyone, even Genesis, jumped, not having expected to hear Minerva's harmonious voice again. Genesis finally nodded. "Yeah, of course… Right, we should get to the Shinra tower…"

Sephiroth nodded, then realized something: there was someone nearby. As in, hiding on one of the buildings. He realized that, in fact, their presence had been there the whole time; he just hadn't really paid any attention, as he had gotten used to random people being nearby. In fact, there had been two shielded presences very close by for the past two weeks. But this wasn't a shielded presence… at least, it probably wasn't. Not sure if this person had some sort of protection, he quickly continued without trying to find out who it was, assuming that they'd show themselves. "Oh, uh, yeah… By the way… Why does Minerva care so much about Jenova, anyways…? Shouldn't they be basically mortal enemies or something…?"

"You'd think so, wouldn't you…? Minerva is smart, though; whatever she's doing, she's doing it on purpose. After all, she's merely a representation of the Lifestream, and the Lifestream knows exactly who its enemies are… and when they're not enemies."

Cloud stared at him. "Are you suggesting that Jenova's starting to become an ally instead of an enemy…?"

"Starting to… Or rather, she once was, and Minerva is trying to bring out that side of her again. You really think that this is her first time to this world?" he said, shocking them both. "If it had been her first time here, then she wouldn't have had such an issue with taking this world out. She could have already blown it away, if she truly wanted to. But not only is Chaos keeping her from doing so… she's also slightly reluctant to harm the Planet."

"Because of Cantus?" Cloud guessed, and Genesis nodded.

"Correct. And also, because of him, she actually tried to help this planet out once quite far back in the past, even slightly… Unfortunately for her, it backfired, and was really what turned her into what she is now." Wait a minute… Hadn't Jenova said something about some plan of hers 'backfiring' a few hours ago, just before she had left…? Something about her past, right? But what had it been about…? Well, probably trying to kill someone; he was most likely just remembering one of her taunts, and not something about the Planet. Right?

"Huh…" Sephiroth said, shaking his head. "I never would have pictured her as a good guy, even when she told me herself that she had been one once. I still don't get it, though… Why did Jenova and Cantus become so close…? He's the Guardian's protector, isn't he? And isn't she basically the mortal enemy of the Guardian…?"

Genesis nodded. "Yes and yes. However, that's how it is now… it wasn't always like that. Just like Jenova, the Guardian wasn't always corrupt… Now, I'd love to explain more, and I will since we're getting closer to the final battle. But first, we have to get to Jenova…"

And so, the three of them quickly took off. It had been hours since Jenova had left, and the Shinra building was only a few minutes away by foot, so Sephiroth was worried about what Hojo could have done in that time…

Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis quickly made their way into the building and up through each level until they finally reached Hojo's lab again. He had somehow completely repaired it in the time since it had been destroyed…

Sephiroth went into the room first, as Cloud and Genesis were making certain that there weren't any hidden enemies. He expected Hojo to have been hiding from them, but not at all. He was standing off to the side, fiddling with something on a table. He looked… well, exactly like what he had looked like the last time Sephiroth had seen him. Sephiroth tried to ignore his hatred for the scientist, silently looking around for Jenova before Hojo knew he was there. It only took him a moment to locate her, as she was over in the glass container in the corner of the room, completely unconscious.

After a moment of silence, Sephiroth heard Hojo chuckling slightly. "Well, hello there, Sephiroth. Long time no see." He paused. "Ah, and those three others are here as well, it seems. Mr. Rhapsodos, Mr. Fair, and of course, Mr. Strife."

Sephiroth was surprised. How could he tell that and- wait… Where was Zack?!

Hojo nodded, turning around to face Sephiroth. "Surprised? Don't be. Remember that Chaos summoned me back along with the others, so I've gained new abilities…"

Sephiroth took a deep breath, and then smirked. "If you already have new abilities, then why do you still need Jenova…?"

Hojo looked over at where Jenova was. "The Ayanumi? Oh, that's an easy one: it has many powers Chaos lacks, especially in this world. Besides, if nothing else, it knows… _everything_, basically. Even things that humans could never hope to understand by themselves." He shrugged. "I am not long for this world, and I know that much; I'd be surprised if I made it past a few more hours, honestly. But that doesn't matter to me; just to see such a divine being is enough, though I'll go as far as I am able in the time I have left."

"Jenova's… divine?"

"Indeed. The Ayanumi were created by the most powerful of the deities: the goddess of the Light. The Goddess is rivaled in power only by her opposite, the god of Darkness." He smirked. "But of course, the Goddess is believed to be dead, which is why Minerva had to become stronger; she needed to make up for the original Goddess's absence. But, anyways, my original point was that Ayanumi, who were created by a being so powerful, have power of their own that could easily rival a god's. _Especially _this one's… which is why the gods that have taken over left it to die."

Sephiroth took that all in, but too quickly, as he didn't register the end of Hojo's little explanation. He knew that, should he try to stay good, he'd have to fight Jenova eventually, but… the power of a god? That was going to be quite hard to overcome… So, he tried to get his mind onto something else. "If the goddess of the Light is gone, then what about the Darkness…?"

"Heh, well, he's very much alive. In fact, I do believe that he's in this world. You've probably had quite a lot of close encounters with him without even realizing it." He shrugged, pacing around. "But you don't need to worry about him; he's no evil being. He's probably helped you more than you realize." So, wait… Was that person that had hidden their aura and that had been following Sephiroth around – the one in the black cloak – this god…? Hopefully, Hojo was right, and this guy wasn't an enemy… They could all deal with quite a lot, but three gods…? That would probably be impossible…

"Now," Hojo said, smirking. "That is of no importance to us at this time. If you are just going to get in my way more, I must have you leave now." Without even giving Sephiroth any time to react, Hojo used his newfound powers to throw Sephiroth out of the room and slam the doors shut.

Sephiroth tried to break into the room again, but just then, Cloud, Genesis, and Zack ran up to him, looking frantic. Sephiroth turned to look at them. "When did Z-"

"He'd been following us," Cloud quickly explained. "And you didn't get Jenova… Well, that doesn't matter. We have bigger problems."

"…Like?" What could be more of a problem than this…?

Genesis nodded. "We've been locked on this floor, with no way out. But that's not the worst part. Rosso the Crimson is protecting this floor… and she knows we're here."


	40. Crimson Deep

**-Disclaimer- Disclaimer.**

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**A/N: Alright! Another first-person, but only for the beginning. Jenova's become more important than Cloud it almost seems, but hey, she probably is in Square's storyline, too. After all, she started the whole thing, so… yeah. Now! Jenova, check out the reviews and then publish the chapter; I'll be right back.**

_**Alright then… Okay, so-…**_

**A/N: And I'm back… You haven't posted the chapter yet? I've been gone for two minutes; that should have been enough Time… Dear me, what's wrong? You're blushing more than Cantus was when you saw that spider.**

…_**Because-! Wait… How do you know about that…?**_

**A/N: Ahem, I'm the goddess of the Light, I'm basically the universe itself… I know all! MWAHAHAHA- okay, anyways… What's wrong? Is it a review? Or lack thereof? Let me look at this…**

…

**A/N: …BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh I get it now! HA! Very nice, Hazza. You embarrassed **_**Jenova**_**. –High-fives him–**

_**Wait, you're on his side?!**_

**A/N: About Time someone used your own tricks on you, heh…**

_**Oh, gah… Whatever… But hey, I was quoting the song Adrenalize in that chapter, so I guess I should have seen that coming…**_

**A/N: Uh-huh. Anyways, this chapter has a slight crossover, but not from any published work; rather, it brings my own story into it. This is one of the only times an 'OC' from my world comes into it, though. He's pretty important later on, but you never really **_**see **_**him. Okay, anyways, to the story!**

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_**Crimson Deep**_

Slowly but surely, I finally woke up again. Luckily, my sleep hadn't been natural, so I hadn't had any nightmares about my past. But… what had happened…?

I slowly opened my eyes, looking around. Much to my dismay, I saw that I was imprisoned in the glass cell in Hojo's lab. Aw yeah, Loki time…

My entire body ached for some reason, and I groaned, sitting up slowly. What could I do now…?

"Ah, welcome back," I heard someone say nearby, and turned to look over at Hojo.

I rubbed my arm. "What did you do to me…?"

"Not much, yet. But you see, what I _really_ want from you is information, not anything genetic this time."

"That's what everyone always wants… Well, there's nothing I can tell you. Or rather, nothing I _will _tell you."

He smirked. "Oh, I know how you are. Chaos has 'trained' you to resist interrogation, so I wasn't even considering it. I'd rather you tell me on your own, as I don't want lies."

I sighed, shakily standing up and having to hold on to the wall. "And why do you have it in your mind that I'm going to tell you anything…?"

"Well, honestly, I don't know why you _wouldn't_. Why would _you _want to keep the knowledge of the gods a secret, with what they've done to you…?"

I smirked. "My relationship with the gods is not the matter, here."

"Oh, I think it is. You're refusing to give up information because you believe it needs to be secret; it's what you already know without being told. But why would you of all people protect the secrets of the gods, when they abandoned you…?"

"Shut up…" I growled, turning away from him.

"Ah, but it's true, isn't it?" he said, and I could tell that he was walking over to me. "I mean, take now for example. Take everything that's happened with me. You're the last Ayanumi, the divine creations of the 'late' goddess of Light… and yet the gods do not rescue you? They'd leave you to be an experiment? If they cared for you even in the very slightest-"

"Shut _up_!" I snarled, whipping around to face him and hitting the glass wall. "So what if I've fallen! So what if the gods forsook me the moment they learned what I could do, and left me to die, hoping that Chaos finished me off! I don't care anymore! Once I did, but not anymore! They feared my powers in the past?! I'll give them something to _really _fear, now!"

Hojo nodded. "And that's why you allowed Chaos to manipulate you, correct? Because of your hatred towards the gods, you wanted revenge. They want absolute control over all races, and they knew that you wouldn't be one to bow before their power. They left you to die – to die from torture, no less – but you survived… so why do you care about guarding their secrets?"

I started to say something, but another voice echoed in my mind.

**Because we haven't all abandoned you. At least, I haven't… **

"Wh-what?" I asked curiously, looking around. The voice somehow sounded powerful and dark like Chaos's, yet much more human. Who was this…? A god, most likely, so I decided to ignore him.

Hojo smirked. "Trying to win you back, are they? Don't listen to them; they don't care for you."

**He needs to shut up. Don't worry, Jenova; we'll get you out of there. **

I smirked. "More than one of you, eh?"

**Gah, it's a long story. You know the person with me, though. Trust me: you know him **_**quite **_**well. And neither of us are your enemies; trust me on that…**

I shook my head, sighing. "Never mind; just get out of my head. I don't _need _your help. You're a god, and that's all that matters. You all abandoned me because I wouldn't stay in the shadows, and now, I'm going to get rid of those 'shadows' so that everyone else can see the truth. They may think of me as the bad guy; after all, everyone who opposes a divine's will is evil, right? And maybe I am. But I don't care. I know what I'm doing."

…**So do I. And if I have to work from the background, then that's fine. You remind me so, **_**so **_**much of myself, and I **_**will **_**save you. Not from your beliefs, but from your fate…**

I noticed for the first time that Hojo had been watching me the whole time. He noticed that I had seen him, and tilted his head. "How do you do that…? Hear them, I mean? How does your telepathy work…?"

I shrugged. "It's innate. All spirits are connected, simply to create one whole. The universe is its own being, you see. Every galaxy, every planet, is a different part, and each living being is no more than a cell. At least, you can look at it like that. If that's the case, then the same basic rules of biology should apply, right? You're a scientist; you get it. Well, as you know, cells can communicate with each other. I just bend those natural rules a bit, but I don't break them. I can receive the 'messages' of other 'cells' without them knowing it, and sometimes _with_ them knowing it. I, however, am a much more versatile 'cell' than humans. I'm like a hybrid between a cell and a virus; able to pull information from other cells, and also able to infect, destroy, or replicate them. Like I said: I bend the rules of biology, but I don't at all break them."

He nodded, seeming to completely understand. "I see…"

"That's why… that's why I don't get why you mortal races protect each other when one of you is facing danger. Not all of you, but there are some of you, I know. I tried it once, and I was put in my place. There are consequences to disobeying the laws of biology, the laws of the universe, yet… yet still, there are those of you that would protect another, even to the death. Isn't it a cells instinct to survive? Especially one that cannot die naturally, unlike all others?"

"You're referring to your protector, correct?"

I sighed, turning away from him. "Yeah, maybe… And he wasn't _my _protector… he was the Guardian's protector. The _good _Guardian. I'm an Ayanumi."

He gave me a dubious look. "Yes, I know what you are… You're the last of your kind, so most people wouldn't know of your existence. I, however, found out about the Ayanumi a while back, not long before I found you. I never told anyone what you really were, although I knew it from the second I saw you. I mean, honestly… who would seriously mistake you for a Cetra…?"

"That's what _I _was wondering! Okay, good. Still, though, I just don't get it…"

He shrugged. "Nor do I. Personality is the one thing no scientist has ever been able to really understand. Emotions are, basically stated, said to be similar to chemical reactions in a part of the brain. Yet a being can have more or less emotions than another being. Take you, for example. Ayanumi cannot feel the emotion classified as 'love', because their brains are made differently than a human's. You have an extra ventricle, I believe. Anyways, because of that, you are incapable of feeling such an emotion, as the reaction cannot take place. But then, you can feel most everything else, correct? And yet, Chaos found a way to force your emotions into some sort of hibernation through fear and pain, and it worked. But it seems that you've found a way to reawaken your feelings, and then banish them again when told. I've tried my hardest to understand it, yet I just can't. You have a very scientific way of looking at things, which is good. But there are thing that can't be explained, even by the gods themselves."

"Yes, I know…"

He nodded. "Good. That's all that I needed from you, to know the basis of this universe. To know that everything must work as one… Which must be what Chaos wants, correct? To weaken the universe, so that he can either kill or control it… Yes, that makes sense. Now, I do believe that I hear your friends fighting Ms. Rosso out there, and they should be done soon. Also…" He nodded at the shadows nearby. "Congratulations, you now know the basis of the universe."

I wasn't sure what he meant at first, but then saw, of all people, Elena move out of the shadows. "I…"

He smirked. "I knew you were there. You followed Sephiroth and his friends here, and then went ahead of them. I've actually noticed your fascination with Jenova as of late, as I've been following 'her' as well, and I've seen you nearly every time. Does Shinra know?"

"…No, he doesn't. He thinks I'm just following Cloud."

"I see… Why is it that you've suddenly taken an interest in Jenova? I doubt you're in it for the science, so then what…?"

Elena looked over at me. "Well, I… It's just that, ever since she refrained from killing someone, I've just been trying to figure her out…"

I glared at her. "You're staring right at me. I can _see _you. Why are you talking about me indirectly?!"

"Oh, um, sorry…"

Hojo shrugged. "Well, the two of you can discuss this later. Be gone, now. You'll see each other again."

Elena started to argue, but shook her head, glancing at me. _I'll be right back_, I heard her think.

With that, she jumped out of the nearby window. Hojo nodded, walking up to me with something in his hand. "I know she'll be back to save you. She'll probably be the one to kill me. I don't mind death anymore, now that I understand the truth." He moved his hand along the glass, opening some sort of glass door in the back of it and closing it behind him as he entered. "You, however, are not going to escape on your own. I'll keep you locked up for as long as I can." He glanced at me cautiously as thought I was some sort of feral animal, and I realized that he was going to subdue me again.

"I know what you're doing. Go ahead." He nodded, quickly sliding the needle into my neck and taking it back when he was done. He paused.

"And, by the way, as to the 'relationship' between Ayanumi and Guardians… Are you ever going to tell Sephiroth and Cloud the truth of your existence, and why you hate the Guardian so much? Yes, I've figured out how much you hate… _her_. And I know why. I've figured it all out. Including where you're originally from…"

I shook my head. "I'll only ever let them know if I'm about to die, which will happen before long. And even then, I doubt I'll tell them the truth… Yes, you're right, you know. The Guardian is no longer my ally. I hate her more than anyone could possibly hate anyone else, and I'm going to make _sure _that she dies for what she's done."

I put my pendant in the palm of my hand, looking at my reflection as my consciousness started to fade. Cantus had given this to me, so long ago… long before his place as the Guardian's protector had turned him into my enemy. The Guardian had been the reason he had ignored my wish for an end. If he hadn't known the Guardian, this would all be over… "Yes…" I whispered. "I'll make sure of it."

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

"Wait…" Sephiroth said, looking at all of them. "Rosso is working with Hojo…? And, more importantly… Why didn't you fight her yet? Cloud, I watched the Deepground battle from the Lifestream, so I know that the only reason that you weren't the one to kill her was that she ran _away _from you…"

Cloud nodded. "Yes, that may be true. But remember that Chaos gave each of the evil ones that he summoned new power… we don't know what we're up against."

"Yes, maybe so. But we _have _to get back in to Jenova. She's _very _unstable right now for whatever reason, and we don't want her going insane again; especially since there's a chance she'd be worse than she was these last two weeks…"

"Wait wait wait…" Zack said. "Two weeks… so _that's _where you were! Your mother had a meltdown?! And she might have another once?! Great… just great…"

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "She's not my- oh, never mind, there's no point in arguing with _you_…"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Heh, never mind. Anyways… Well, we need to get her out of there, now. She's finally starting to break down, and I think that there may be a chance we can use that to our advantage, to either turn her to our side or take her out of the playing field. Either option would work."

Zack paused. "Break down…?"

"Well, yes. She's just been acting… much differently, lately. Cloud, although she won't want me to tell you this, you never actually killed her. In fact, I think she's really the only one of us that's never been in the Lifestream for some reason. But anyways, my point is that, ever since you almost killed her back at the Northern Crater, you seemed to have knocked her right into a different personality of hers. Her _original _one. The one that's not evil. When she was insane, she all but confirmed that for me, as she said that she had more than one personality and that she wasn't normally so insane. She seemed to be a completely different person, and she barely remembered what happened when she was in her other personality. And now that she's back to this one, she doesn't remember the past two weeks at all… I don't know, really. It just feels like there's something odd going on here. It's obviously just a split personality, but it almost seems as though she treats herself as two different people. Not only that, but each of her personalities seems to _hate _the other." He nodded. "Even her appearance changed, which I forgot to mention. Her hair naturally covered her right eye, and her eyes changed from magenta to red. None of you ever saw her before this all started happening, but I did, and that was what she used to look like, when she was having me summon Meteor. That's why I was surprised to see her look like she normally does now, as I had gotten used to her other form."

Genesis nodded. "Yes, you're almost there… You're so close to figuring this out, Sephiroth. And, I think I should tell you, that's one of the reasons she hates Gaia's Guardian so much, as the Guardian was the one who forced her to split her personality… It's a long story, but there's no time. Let's get rid of Rosso, and get Jenova out of here before she becomes… well, Jenova again."

"Ah, well, it won't be that easy to get rid of me anymore, darlings…"

They all turned around to face Rosso, who already had her weapons out. She didn't look any different, so what had happened to her…?

Sephiroth smirked. "You were easily defeated by Cloud… You really think that you can beat us when there's the four of us…?"

She shrugged. "We'll see, hm?"

With that, the four of them launched into battle. It seemed that Rosso's speed and magic had gotten quite the upgrade, and Sephiroth slightly wished that Jenova had been there, as Jenova could have matched her speed with no issue. Sephiroth was able to keep up more easily than the others, luckily, since he'd been training with Jenova for a while…

Rosso was quite a good fighter, but really the only reason she was still alive was because she was faster than any of her opponents. Sephiroth, Cloud, Genesis, and Zack all had to keep diving behind different walls so as to avoid getting hit by Rosso's flying blades, and they couldn't keep up with her while also dodging her attacks. She could also evade any of their magic attacks.

Rosso laughed as she darted around her opponents. "You cannot catch me! And even if you do, it will be too late, and your alien friend will have already told Hojo what he wishes to know!"

Cloud shook his head. "If there's one thing Jenova's annoyingly good at, it's keeping information to herself."

"Oh, well, we'll see!"

Again, they darted around, exchanging blows but never really landing any. Finally, though, a while after the battle had started, Sephiroth got bored with playing around. They cornered Rosso, giving her no escape route.

Rosso, however, saw that she was defeated, and used her newfound speed to dart off to the side. She quickly unlocked the doors into Hojo's lab… but then just stood there, staring at something. However, she didn't waste any more time, running into the room and forcing her adversaries to follow her.

Then, though, they saw what she had: Hojo was lying motionless on the floor, his white coat stained red. And Jenova was gone.

They were too late.

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_**Dun dun duuuuun. Okay, Lurkers, review! Please? Including whether or not I should finish writing my past! Okay, good day to you.  
**_


	41. Shadows

**-Disclaimer- I was going to say something witty, but I'm too tired…**

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**A/N: Hehehehehehe…**

_**What…? Was it a good idea to let you read the reviews - review - by yourself…?  
**_

**A/N: Mm-hmm, that was probably best. Although, Hazza, I will say that no, she doesn't, which is the reason she was embarrassed. If she had feelings for him, she wouldn't have cared about what you said. She's an Ayanumi; she's heartless, just like me! Hehe…**

…_**I'm the only Ayanumi here… Feelings for who?!**_

**A/N: Ummm… to the story!**

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_**Shadows**_

Cloud stared down at Hojo. He didn't get to for very long, though, because Rosso wasted no time in coming after them again. Sephiroth, though, didn't seem to be in the mood to put up with her anymore, most likely because Hojo was the only one that could have given him answers to many of his questions. Unfortunately, they all knew that that would make him a bit reckless.

Cloud and Zack tried to keep him back so that he didn't end up hurting all of them instead, but Rosso took that to her advantage, managing to catch them off-guard and nearly hit them. Genesis was no help; he was busy noticing something off to the side. "Uh… Rosso, you may want to get out of here…"

She smirked. "Oh? And why is that, darling?"

"…Well, because you're ticking off a very territorial Ayanumi…"

Rosso looked confused, but just shrugged off his warning. But, wait… Where was Jenova, then…? Hadn't she left…? Or was Genesis just assuming that she was watching?

Sephiroth started to step forward when Rosso was distracted, and since he was close to her, he probably would have been able to kill her with one movement. But Rosso saw someone else… someone who wasn't superhuman, like the rest of them.

Rosso darted over to where Elena was casually standing. When had _she _gotten there?!

Elena held up her gun to Rosso, smiling slightly. "I wouldn't come any closer, if I were you."

Everyone was kind of frozen, not really sure what to do. Elena was completely human and had no extra abilities, so she was basically at Rosso's mercy. If any of them tried to take out Rosso, she would be able to kill Elena within a second because of her speed and the fact that she was standing right next to her. None of them would be fast enough to get to her. But why was Elena so unafraid…?

Then, Cloud noticed that Sephiroth was smiling slightly, watching Elena. Why…?

Suddenly, a shot rang out. Rosso growled, leaping to the side, but not until after realizing that she had just been shot in the arm. Everyone except for Sephiroth looked up at the catwalk above, to see Elena loading another shot into her gun. She had a barely-visible cut on her right arm for some reason… But, wait, what…?! Oh, of course!

While they had all been looking at the real Elena, the fake one standing in front of Rosso had started laughing. "He's right, you know, little missy. I _am _pretty territorial, I guess. And _I'll _be the one that kills them when the time comes; not you!"

Without wasting a second, Jenova – still in Elena's form – jumped behind Rosso, using the Tsviet's own weapon to impale her through the chest without so much as a blink. Which was bothersome…

Moments later, Rosso disappeared just like Azul had. Jenova laughed. "Ha! That's what you get for trying to take my place as the female antagonist!" She nodded at the real Elena, who jumped down. "Sorry you had to see that, girly, but it's what had to be done."

Elena shrugged. "Yeah, I know. You can't have a war without casualties, and you just hope that the deaths are on the side of the enemy. Besides, had it really been me in your place, I would probably be dead."

Genesis nodded. "Well then, very nice, you two. Since when are you guys friends?"

Jenova and Elena looked over at them. Jenova shrugged. "Oh, yeah, you guys are still here. Eh, we're not exactly _friends_; we just helped each other out. Now, er…" She looked down at Hojo. "Yeah, we have to go. Bye."

With that, she grabbed Elena by the arm and jumped out of the nearby open window with her. Where were _they _going…? Hopefully Elena would still be alive soon, as Cloud couldn't count on Jenova to contain her bloodlust after killing only one person, especially since she was still most likely going through withdrawal…

Zack was just simply staring at where they had just been. "Wait, was that Jenova?! Like, _the _Jenova?! Is it just me, or could she be that girl's twin?!"

Cloud smirked. "That was Jenova, yes. But that wasn't her true form. None of us have ever seen her true form, but she has one she tends to prefer on this world. It just seems that she was imitating Elena in order to fool Rosso, since she still obviously doesn't have her magic abilities back yet."

"…Right?"

Sephiroth, though, wasn't paying attention to them, as he was already over next to Hojo. Genesis was standing over to the side, paying attention to some of Hojo's notes.

Cloud and Zack silently walked up to Sephiroth and Hojo. It seemed that Hojo was still alive, somehow…

Sephiroth looked down at Hojo. "Was it Jenova that wounded you…?"

Hojo smirked. "No. It was… another. In a black cloak. It seems that they _haven't _truly abandoned her, yet… And also, there was another with him…"

"Yes? Who?"

"Her pr-" But he couldn't finish his sentence, as he started coughing, and then shook his head. "Never… never mind… You'll find out, soon…"

Sephiroth sighed unhappily. "Fine, whatever." He looked between the people in the room, then back at Hojo. "And, one last thing, because I know Jenova will never tell me… Who's Lucrecia?"

There was a collective "Oh no" from Cloud, Genesis, and Zack, but Sephiroth ignored them. Hojo chuckled slightly.

"I knew you'd find out about her eventually… Lucrecia was your _real _mother; there's no point in hiding it anymore. Jenova killed her, more than thirty years ago. Maybe indirectly, maybe not."

Sephiroth stared down at him. "Seriously?! Jenova… she really…?!"

"Yes. I assume it was on purpose, but I… don't know. All I know is that she didn't kill… you. She had a purpose for you… even back then."

"Yeah… And I know she's not done with me… When will she be?!" Cloud could tell that Sephiroth was trying to push the thoughts of Lucrecia to the back of his mind, so that he didn't lose control of himself. But he couldn't do that forever…

Hojo smirked. "When she's killed you. Oh, don't look so surprised… She may… have revived you, multiple times, because she still 'needs' you, but… when she's done with you, you'll know it… When you've served your purpose – all of you – she'll inevitably use you to fuel her sadism. Then, she'll kill you for good… and only then will she be truly done with you…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "But… I swear, she's changing…"

"Have you become so blind as her puppet?" Hojo growled. "She _can't _change. She may be remembering her past, but she's done that before, and did she go back to being good then? Heh, no, that _thing _can never change; not truly. Her heart has always been dark, and there's nothing… that any of you can do to… change that. And she's… become unstable. Soon, nothing will matter to her, anymore… Has she told you what she did to the one who cared so much about her? She… may not have had the same feelings for him as he did for her – she can't – but she trusted him… above all others. And I assume you know what happened… to him… She sees emotions as a weakness. If she's started trusting any of you, you'll… suffer, more than you think." He coughed again, and Cloud could tell that he was trying to say everything that he could in his last moments.

The mood in the room had dropped pretty quickly; not that it had ever been very high, of course, but still...

Zack nodded. "Alright, then. The answer is simple, isn't it? We play her just like she's playing us. Sephiroth, seriously; if you're still on her side after what you just heard, you're more messed up than I thought. And so, if we're all against her, but she doesn't _know _it, then we can take her out before she kills us. Simple!"

Genesis shook his head. "Slow down, puppy. It's not _that_ simple. It's still Jenova; remember how strong she is. But, you're right on one thing: at least there's a chance."

But Hojo only laughed slightly. "You all _are _ignorant, aren't you…? You're all condemned; you can't stop her. She controls you all; you just don't realize it. She owns every cell in your bodies, and could destroy or control any of you at will." They all froze. Cloud remembered something Jenova had said back in Nibelheim when he had mentioned Cantus: 'I swear to you that I shall tear you apart slowly from the inside out, using the very blood that runs through your veins.' He had thought it nothing more than a random threat at the time, but… did that comment have to do with what Hojo was saying now…?

Cloud glared down at him. "What do you mean…?"

Hojo tapped the veins on Sephiroth's wrist. "Your blood, of course. It's been infected with her cells, like some sort of incurable virus. Each one of you has been tainted by her blood, turning you into what you are now. Though you never knew it, her cells slowly infected every one of yours, just barely, yet enough. Have none of you… ever read about what happened when she came here and destroyed the Cetra, so long ago? Not only did she imitate their deceased to drive them to insanity, but… she would infect some of them with her blood, mutating them into whatever she wished. And she had only had minutes at the most to take them over. You all… Well, she's had far longer. She can do whatever she wants with any of you; she just doesn't, preferring instead to taunt or torture you until she gets what she wants. But I… assure you; she will not hesitate if you give her the opportunity…"

Sephiroth nodded. "Then we won't give her the opportunity. The next time she's weak, I won't hesitate to cut her down, even if it doesn't seem right… it's the only way."

Hojo smirked. "You say that, but… can you truly follow through? If she somehow _did _start to change, and she fell before you, letting you decide her fate, would you… truly be able to end someone like that?"

"…I…"

Hojo shook his head. "I didn't… think so. But listen to me, now… you _must_," he said, slightly surprising them all. He coughed again, looking far weaker than he had at first. "She must die… and so too must the knowledge of… the gods… She would destroy the illusions of the humans, and show them the truth, but… the knowledge she possesses is far too great for any mortal to know… You must end her, and what she knows… must be lost to time. She's more a victim in this than… any of us; a victim of chance, and of the cruelty of true knowledge. She… didn't ask for this, but… it can't matter. You must _end _her, and all that she knows. Do you all… understand me?"

They all nodded, although with slight reluctance. Jenova… a victim? That didn't make sense… there was obviously more to this than they knew…

Hojo nodded. "Good. …Good luck…" With that, he disappeared just like Rosso and Azul had.

Sephiroth shook his head, standing up. Genesis looked at him cautiously. "Are you alright…?"

Sephiroth smirked. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, because of… Lucrecia, maybe…"

He shrugged. "What about her? That's… the past. It doesn't… doesn't matter, anymore. We have far more important things to be dealing with, right now…" He turned away from them. "We should get going, before anything else happens. And we need to find Jenova, before… well, before she goes insane again. She's probably still with Elena, and if an innocent person gets caught in the middle of this, well… I don't think that any of us would be able to forgive ourselves."

Zack paused. "Elena's the Turk girl, right?"

"Yes, Zack."

"Alright, just checking. You're right, though."

"Heh, right…" He sighed, walking towards the door. "We should probably split up, if we're going to go look for them." Then, he walked out without another word. Zack started to follow him, but Cloud stopped him, speaking when Sephiroth was gone.

"Let him go. He needs to be alone for now. He may seem calm, but I'd be surprised if that was anything but an act…"

Genesis nodded. "Yeah. Not only does he now know that it was Jenova who killed his mother, but… now he knows that we all knew about it. He'll probably want to be by himself for a while…"

Zack shook his head. "But, I didn't know… Oh, never mind… We should probably start looking for Jenova, though… Not for Elena's sake, but for hers…"

Cloud paused. "Why do you say that…?"

"Well, Sephy just found out that she killed his mother, and we all know how radical he can be… She just may want to keep her distance for a while…"

"That's probably true, huh? And it's really for his sake as well, now that we know just how much control she may have over us… Let's just hope that Hojo's wrong, and that she _does _change, or at least that she dips into her bipolar attitude again…"

"Exactly," Genesis said. "And let's just hope that she's already changed at least slightly, for Elena's sake…"

-I-I-I-I-I-I-

Elena tried her hardest to keep up with Jenova, but the alien had to keep on slowing her pace. However, luckily, she didn't seem annoyed, but it was impossible for Elena to tell now that Jenova was back in the form Elena had first seen her in when they had met back in Nibelheim. Finally, they had made their way deeper into the ruins of Midgar, and Jenova finally stopped so that they could rest. Elena looked around.

"Why are we here?"

Jenova looked around. "A friend of mine should be around here…"

Elena paused. "A… friend?" There were more people like Jenova…?

Of all the beings Elena expected to come, the one that appeared was not on her list. The creature that appeared was a large husky dog with glowing blue eyes, who happily came up to Jenova. The alien grinned. "Ah, it's good to finally see you again… I was worried you wouldn't make it through the procedure, but it seems that you did just fine!"

Elena tilted her head, looking down at the dog. "…'Procedure'?"

"Of becoming immortal, yes. It's a long story… Anyways, now that we have Charnauk, we should be able to tell if anyone's coming. I can't be too careful, when I'm weakened. You can go, though, if you want."

Elena shook her head. "I don't want to, yet. I-" Suddenly, though, Charnauk started growling.

"Elena?!"

Elena froze, instantly recognizing Tseng's voice. What was _he_ doing here?! How was she ever going to explain _this _to the one she cared so deeply about…?!

Jenova, though, seemed to sense Elena's worry, and grinned madly, turning around to face Tseng. "Oh, hello there! I didn't think I'd see _you _any time soon! Although, I assumed you'd come to rescue girly here soon, of course; I just didn't know you'd figure it out what I'd done with her so quickly! Or, hmm… Did you even? No, it seems you didn't…"

Tseng already had his gun out. "Get away from Elena, alien…"

"Uh, yeah, no. I still need her. I'll let her go soon, but for now, I need to make sure that I have leverage over Cloud and company. You'd be surprised to know that they'd actually sacrifice themselves to save girly, seeing as how she's an innocent. But since when have I cared about innocents? Oh yeah: never. So, until I'm done with her, girly is under _my_ control; you can't save her."

Jenova was… pretending to be controlling Elena? But why?!

_**Why? That should be simple. Just don't say anything unless I tell you to, alright? I want your boyfriend here to think that you helping me is my fault, so that he won't blame you…**_

Elena glanced at her, and then looked over at Tseng, who looked worried. But he glared at Jenova anyways. "You can't control her forever. Elena is strong; she'll be able to break away from you."

Jenova shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Anyhow, we should be going." She turned around, and Elena sighed, doing the same and starting to follow her as she walked away. Then, though, out of the corner of her eye, Elena saw Tseng aim his weapon at Jenova.

"Jenova!" she cried out, rushing in front of her just as Tseng pulled the trigger. Instead of letting Elena get hit, though, Jenova suddenly pushed the young Turk out of the way, taking the bullet herself without a second thought. It went straight through her shoulder, as Tseng's aim had been off. The force was enough to throw Jenova back, though, and she slammed into the ground. Tseng would have followed her, but Charnauk already had him pinned to the ground, his fangs inches from the Turk's face.

Elena could only stare. What… what had just happened?! Had Jenova… protected her?! Not only that, but she had done it as though it was her job, not thinking once of herself. Why?!

Jenova shook her head unhappily, seeming slightly annoyed. She shakily stood up, glancing over at Tseng. She walked over and picked the bullet up off of the ground, looking at her own blood. She smirked, and then somehow healed her wound, even though she still didn't seem to have any magical abilities yet. She dropped the bullet, glancing at Charnauk and completely surprising Elena with her next move yet again.

"Tilbake. Hvis han angriper, slå ham ut, men ikke drepe ham," she growled, and the dog backed off of Tseng, much to his and Elena's surprise. Elena wasn't sure what she had said – or what language it had been in – but she was slightly worried. Were they planning on killing him…? "Oh, de tingene et Ayanumi må gjøre for hennes planeten's folk..."

Jenova sighed, then, walking over and helping Elena to her feet. "Come on," she said, speaking again in Elena's language. But Elena thought for a moment as she stood up. She had only recognized one word in Jenova's language switch: Ayanumi. What was that again…? Oh, yeah! Jenova's race… But what had she said about herself…? And had that been her original language, or just one she had learned…?

Without waiting for Tseng, Jenova turned and walked away again, and Elena quickly followed her, keeping her head down. Jenova hadn't killed Tseng, even though he had just shot her… Why not? Also, why had she taken the bullet to protect Elena…? And what had she said to her dog…? Elena could assume that 'planeten's' probably meant 'planet's', and that 'folk' obviously meant 'people', but… what had the rest been about? She could only guess, really…

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**_Reviewwwwww. Please?_**


	42. Remnants of the Past

**-Disclaimer- AH I ALMOST FORGOT THE DISCLAIMER. Wow, that would have ruined the world...**

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**A/N: Dude… at 12 point Times New Roman font and double-spacing – like a normal book – this chapter ends on the 578****th**** page of the fanfiction document … My me, that's long…**

_**Oh, and Hazza, yeah, I know that, you know that, Hojo knew that, Cloud and Genesis kind of knew that, but Sephiroth didn't. You really think Hojo wanted Sephiroth to know that it was me that kept Lucrecia from being able to kill herself, when he was trying to turn us against each other…? As for Cloud and Genesis, why they went along with it… They knew that turning Sephiroth against me would probably be the only way to win, if they couldn't get me on to their side. That's also why they acted like I had killed Lucrecia even when Sephiroth left; not only could he have potentially been listening to their thoughts, but they also didn't want Zack running off and telling him the truth. BUT you weren't supposed to know that yet, so you're welcome.**_

**A/N: Right. ALSO, Lurkers, don't trust Disney, and don't support them. EVER. That company is pathetic, and needs to go down for what they're doing. No questions asked; let's just say that I have a legitimate reason for hating them, as do many, many other people as of today. Okay? Okay. Sorry about that. To the story…**

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_**Remnants of the Past**_

It had been two days since everything had happened with Hojo. Sephiroth had yet to see the others yet – how could he trust them, after they had known such an important fact and not told him?! He knew that he couldn't stay away from them forever, though… after all, he knew now that Jenova was his real enemy, and he needed them to help defeat her. Yet still, something was seriously bothering him… Hojo had called Jenova a victim. A _victim_. Why?! How had _she _been a victim?! Sephiroth remembered Jenova telling him about how Chaos had forced her to help him, but he still found it hard to believe… She just didn't _seem _like someone that had ever been taken advantage of… no, she was the one that always took advantage of others, and not the other way around… right?

But, never mind; Jenova couldn't matter right now. There were more important things to be focusing on right now, such as protecting this world. Sure, Jenova had to do with that as well, but Chaos was the main problem… probably. Would they really be able to kill him…? And, if they didn't… what would happen then? Well, obviously, Chaos and Jenova would take over the universe, although it sounded a bit cliché. Sephiroth knew that there was more to it, though. This was a battle for the universe itself; surely the gods were involved somehow. Chaos was already unimaginably powerful, so what would taking over the universe do for him? Obviously, it would grant him access to the gods. The real question was, then… what did he want with them?

Sephiroth sighed, sitting on top of the roof of 'his' apartment. There were clouds in the sky and the air was cold, but it was quite dry as well. Yet there was something else in the air… something strange. Not only that, but Sephiroth could tell that he wasn't the only one in the vicinity. But the other auras were… strange, to say the least. Not natural. And… Sephiroth _knew _them, but he couldn't be sure how. The auras were confusing, and he couldn't read them. But he knew that they were nearby.

Sephiroth shook his head, jumping off of the roof and looking around. Where were these people…? And _who _were they…? Well, actually, it should have been obvious…

"Ah, we meet at last," said someone from behind Sephiroth. Sephiroth turned around to face the last person he'd expected: Kadaj. How… what the… what?!

Kadaj smirked. "Don't look so surprised. That demon, er… Chaos, brought us back. Yazoo and Loz are nearby, looking for you as well. We've kept our distance long enough."

Sephiroth glared at him. "Not long enough, I'd say, but I suppose that doesn't matter… What are you here for?"

"Well, we're still looking for Mother, of course."

_Heh, so am I, but for a much different reason than you probably are… Why did I create these guys again? To look for Jenova, I know, but… Oh, yes, of course… She was still unconscious in the Northern Crater… Sheesh, neither these guys nor the Turks knew how close they were to her, and not just a random cluster of her cells…_

"Oh, right…"

"I assume you've found her by now? You are her 'chosen one', after all…" he said, though with a slight bitterness that made Sephiroth smirk.

"Oh, uh, right… Yeah, I've found her… Turns out she never died at all; it was just a ploy to, uh, protect herself, which she told me… I don't know where she is right now, but she's rarely gone for more than a few days…"

"Is that so…?" He thought for a moment. "I want to make certain you're not lying, so I suppose I should just hang around until she returns..."

Sephiroth started to say something, but then, there were two new auras nearby. Not Loz and Yazoo – they were off to the side, still – but two new auras… and one of them was mostly hidden. Wow, speak of the she-devil… But wait… Elena was still with her?! Elena… and Kadaj… in the same small space… Well, this was going to go well.

Kadaj tilted his head. "Something the matter?"

"Someone's nearby…"

He rolled his eyes. "You honestly care…? They're of no use to us; we just get rid of them."

Sephiroth glanced at Kadaj. "Oh no, you know this person…"

"…I do?"

Then, finally, Elena came into the clearing, but it wasn't Jenova with her. Or, well, it _was_, but she looked… different. She had changed her outfit to mimic Elena's, for some reason. Also, her hair and eyes had become brown. Sephiroth was slightly unnerved, seeing her look so human. But it didn't matter; she _wasn't._ He had a strange hatred, looking at her, although it really wasn't that strange.

Elena and Kadaj both froze, staring at each other. Jenova's eyes darted over to Sephiroth.

_**When did **_**he**_** get resurrected?!**_

…_How should I know…?_

…_**Is something wrong…?**_

_Heh, no. Well, yes, but you wouldn't care, anyways._

She glared at him slightly, before turning to look at Kadaj and feigning surprise. "Er… who are _you_?"

Kadaj burst out laughing. "Oh yes, the Turk girl! I remember you!"

Elena subconsciously rubbed her hand. "Yes, I remember you as well… I thought Cloud killed you?!"

"Well, yes, Cloud's killed a lot of people, but they never really _stay_ dead…"

"Yes, I suppose that's true…"

He shrugged. "Anyways, Yazoo and Loz will deal with you soon… that is, if they _get here on time_…"

Jenova waved at him. "Hellooo? I asked a question. Who. Are. You?"

Kadaj smirked, looking over at her. "Watch your tone. I'm Kadaj, but you wouldn't know me."

"Uh, nope, never heard of you. And watch _my _tone? _You're _the one who needs to be careful, buddy, or I'll make you regret it."

He rolled his eyes, looking slightly amused. "I'm sure… Humans don't scare me."

"Oh yeah? _Bring it_. I swear, I'll…"

"Heh, you'll _what_, girl?"

_Wow, he's just like you._

_**I know; I hate it. **_**Nobody **_**gets to act like me, except for me.**_

Elena glanced at Jenova, who just huffed unhappily and looked away from him. "Gah, never mind…"

"Yeah, I thought so. So, Turk girl… what was your name? Elena, right? Anyways, who is your new… _special _friend, here?"

Elena glared at him. "She's a… new recruit."

_Eh?_

_**It's just an act we came up with, in case something like **_**this **_**happened… Wait, I just realized… Weren't there two others?**_

_Yes, and I'm surprised you haven't run into them yet… Kadaj said they were around here, somewhere…_

"I thought Shinra was over…? Ah, never mind. Not like it matters; I honestly don't care. Do you, by chance, know what Shinra did with Mother?"

Jenova looked annoyed, but only in her eyes. Just by looking at her, she seemed incredibly confused. Sephiroth hadn't known she was such a good actress…

Elena glanced at Jenova, and then back at Kadaj. "No, I don't. I thought she was destroyed?"

He smiled slightly. "No, I saw that look… You know, don't you…? You both do. She's still out there somewhere, isn't she…?"

Jenova shrugged. "No, not… exactly. It's… complicated, really…" In other words: 'No, she's not _out there_, she's _right here_…'

"So complicated that you can't tell us?" said another voice, and Yazoo jumped in, followed closely by Loz.

Kadaj nodded at them. "Get them."

_Oh, this will be amusing… You still going to try and keep your cover?_

_**Oh yes, this will be fun… Don't interfere, just yet…**_

_I wasn't going to, anyways…_

She glanced at him strangely. _**What do you mean…?**_

_Is there really any time…?_

_**Whatever…**_

Jenova pulled out her weapons, as did Elena. Jenova shook her head. "Ah, I wouldn't come any closer, if I were you boys. You're no match for us."

Kadaj smirked. "You're human… _you're _no match for _us_."

"Mm-hmm. You've been dead for years, and we've been fighting all that time. Your skills haven't been practiced in a while… you honestly think they'll just magically come back…?"

Yazoo shook his head. "No, not quite. But it doesn't matter; it's three of us – perhaps four – against the two of you…"

Kadaj nodded. "Exactly. Now, Elena, I do believe you know our threat is real; we easily overpowered you and your boyfriend last time, and you know what happened afterwards… You're just lucky Valentine came in when he did…"

Jenova laughed slightly, although most likely at the use of Vincent's last name. Elena muttered something to her, but very faintly, and Sephiroth could tell that they exchanged a few quick words mentally; it was pretty obvious, since Jenova blocked off Sephiroth's access to Elena's mind. He wasn't even sure how either of their telepathy worked, but she obviously knew the details of their magic explicitly…

Jenova glanced at the three Remnants. "Is that so…? Heh, but they could _never _be as good as me. Trust me, girly; if I'd been in their place, you would have told me everything you knew within moments. Which is why I'm glad I wasn't in their place…"

Elena rubbed the back of her neck. "Right…"

Loz glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Hey, no funny business, you two. There's no escape for either of you."

Jenova rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, you're still there… Eh, your threats hold no weight. You can try to capture us, but you won't succeed. I won't allow it."

Kadaj rolled his eyes. "Can I just say that you're probably the most annoying person I've ever met before…?"

"Eh, a lot of people say that."

"I'm sure… Now, Loz is right; there's no escape for either of you. You may as well just give up…"

_**Ya know, when I told you not to interfere, I didn't mean that you had to just kind of shadow the whole conversation…**_

_Whatever…_

…_**Seriously; what's wrong?**_

_Nothing that you'd care about. Just… something Hojo told me, about how you've affected me in the past…_

_**Oh, now I'm just **_**more**_** curious…**_

Kadaj glanced at Jenova and Elena, and then Sephiroth. "Do you need either of them?"

Sephiroth shrugged, expecting Jenova to not need his help. "No, not really."

Kadaj smirked. "Oh, good. They're mine, then…" He grinned at Jenova and Elena. "A puppet that can no longer be used is mere garbage, you know…"

Jenova rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, calm down, Majora. You're not going to find Jenova by talking to us; we've got nothing to say to you. Besides, why don't you just look around for yourself? I'm sure she's closer than you think…"

"Be that as it may, the information you two have would probably be invaluable…" He smirked. "It's as though you think I'm just going to let you go if you don't give me the answers… Honestly, just like last time: You should have thought about what I am willing to do in order to get the job done…"

Jenova sighed. "I tire of this, Majora. Are we going to fight or not…?"

Kadaj rolled his eyes. "Fine, then." He glanced at Yazoo and Loz. "Bring them to me. You should probably knock them unconscious, as we probably shouldn't do this here…"

Elena glanced at Jenova, and then back at him. "You just try… You don't have surprise on your side this time, and I assure you, my partner and I won't go down easily."

"I didn't expect you to; did I ever say I thought this would be easy? But trust me…" He smiled slightly. "You'll be regretting your arrogant attitude soon…"

Jenova rolled her eyes. "Uh, no, _you'll _be the one regretting your actions… We'll try not to defeat you guys too quickly…"

She didn't even wait for them, attacking them directly. She seemed to be back to her playful attitude, and didn't one-hit the Remnants like she probably could have, seeing as how they hadn't fought in years. Elena joined in the fight, and Sephiroth and Kadaj just kind of watched at first. Kadaj was watching Elena at first, but quickly had his attention drawn to Jenova.

Kadaj spoke without looking at Sephiroth, keeping his eyes on the fight. "They fight quite well, for humans… That one new girl, though… There's something strange about her… Her attacks have a speed and smoothness that I've never seen before; _especially _from a human… She knows she's in no danger; it's as though she's merely toying with Yazoo and Loz, but without letting them know it. She seems to be able to evade their attacks; they haven't landed a single blow on her. Perhaps it's just the fact that she's a woman, or perhaps… Do you think Shinra may have started experimenting on the Turks?"

Well, that was a quick assumption that was completely wrong. But, of course, Sephiroth couldn't say that. "I… don't know. Wouldn't we be able to tell if she was one of us?"

"Who knows…?"

Finally, Elena knocked out Loz, and Jenova had Yazoo pinned against the wall with her weapons. She sighed. "We win. That wasn't as amusing as I thought it would be… But at least you all last longer than most…" She let Yazoo go, and he quickly darted over to Kadaj and Sephiroth, followed closely by Loz as soon as he woke up.

Kadaj clapped. "Very good. But do you really think that you could defeat either of _us_?"

Sephiroth glanced at him. "What are you doing…?"

"Well, you could take them both easily, so you might as well help out…" He nodded at Loz and Yazoo. "Go make sure their friends aren't nearby." Yazoo and Loz, realizing that Kadaj wanted this to be a two-on-two battle, quickly took off.

Sephiroth glanced at Jenova, smiling slightly. "Oh, alright…"

She tilted her head. "You wish to fight me, Sephiroth?" she asked out loud, looking slightly confused.

Elena glanced at Jenova, and Kadaj looked at Sephiroth. "So? What do you say? You take her, and I'll take Elena?"

Sephiroth nodded. "Yes, I think that's a good idea…" He pulled out Masamune. _…For show, right? Might as well… make them believe it._

Jenova grinned, which visibly worried Elena. "Come, then."

Neither Elena nor Kadaj wasted a moment, charging at each other. They seemed to have a conversation going – one that was visibly ticking off Elena – but Sephiroth didn't really care. He smirked, attacking Jenova, who blocked him easily. He wasn't _trying _to hit her – yet – but Kadaj couldn't know that… Of course, he didn't fake for long…

Jenova smirked as they blocked each other again. _**If I didn't think you were smart, I'd say that you were actually trying to hit me…**_

_Well? Got to make it look real, right?_

_**No, no, there's something else going on here… What did Hojo tell you, Sephiroth?**_

_You wouldn't–_

**I care**_**, alright?! Is that what you want to hear?! **_

He froze, staring at her. "You… what?"

"What?" Elena asked, and Sephiroth realized that she and Kadaj were leaning against the wall, watching them. When had they stopped fighting…?

Noticing Sephiroth's confusion, Kadaj shrugged. "We decided to wait for you guys, a few minutes ago. If it had been all of us at once… I think this place might have blown up… Now, what did you just say?"

Sephiroth turned towards Jenova. "I… Did you just say-"

"_Yes_, alright?! I've just… done so much to you, over the years, and didn't even realize it… You're more like me than you think you are, Sephiroth… I know I may hurt you, but when it comes down to it, I'm trying to help you get out of this alive… because I know that I'm not going to."

"I…"

She sighed, turning away from him. "Never mind; it doesn't matter. Just tell me now: what did Hojo say to you?"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes. "He told me about Lucrecia."

Jenova froze. "He… But, no, that wouldn't have… What did he tell you about her?"

"He told me that you killed her."

"Well, that was… blunt. Wait… killed? I didn't…" She looked confused, but a look of understanding washed over her face. "He's trying to turn us against each other…" she muttered very lightly, obviously not intending for Sephiroth to hear her. But, why…? Was she saying that Hojo had lied? He had been dying; he would have had no reason… right? Meanwhile, Jenova had every motive possible to lie to him, so it was obvious to him who was telling the truth.

Then, though, Jenova looked sad, but quickly covered it by smirking. "Maybe I did. That's the past; why do you care now?"

He glared at her. "You seriously have to ask that?!"

"Heh, perhaps. Relationships to others are the greatest weaknesses there are; feelings for another will always cause your downfall. You need to learn that."

Kadaj jumped up. "I don't get it… Why are you ordering him around…?"

She glared at him, visibly annoyed. "Oh don't you get it, Majora?! I mean, Kadaj?! Sometimes, I swear; I'm the only one on this world that isn't part potato!" With that, she stalked off.

Kadaj blinked. "Did she just call me a major potato…?"

Elena and Sephiroth shrugged. "Who knows…?" Elena finished the sentence. "She tends to find a single nickname for everyone – that normally nobody understands – from something you say or do, and you're stuck with it…"

"O…kay? Who _is _she, anyways?"

They all suddenly heard Jenova yell something in some other language – most likely a four-lettered-word – and there was a blue blast. Then, Yazoo and Loz slammed into the ground, quickly jumping to their feet. Loz shook his head. "That chick is crazy!"

Sephiroth smirked. "Yes. Yes, she is. Anyways… _That_ was Jenova, if you haven't figured it out yet…"

The Remnants just kind of stared at him, and Elena facepalmed. "Seriously?! You're just going to _tell _them that?!"

Kadaj glared at her. "You'd rather we torture it out of you…?"

"Uh, no, Sephiroth, go ahead and tell them, that's fine, really… Okay?" She kind of backed up. "Ummm… I'm going to go catch up with Jenova… Yeah, bye for now. For life, preferably." With that, she ran off.

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks…" He sighed, turning towards the impatient Remnants. "Well, um, yes, that was Jenova. To be honest, though, it should have been pretty obvious, with how she was acting… Plus, she basically _told _you when she said 'I'm sure she's closer than you think'…"

Yazoo shrugged. "Yeah, Kadaj, that was actually pretty obvious…"

Kadaj glared at him. "Oh, shut up…" He sighed. "Well… what now, since she's gone and obviously quite mad…? Whatever you said seriously ticked her off…"

Sephiroth shrugged. "Yeah, well, I don't really care anymore. You guys can go follow her, if you want; I'd prefer to be alone right now. I have… a lot to think about…"

Kadaj sighed, walking over and getting his motorbike from behind the building. "Whatever… Come on, guys." Loz and Yazoo followed him, seeming to go off to find their own vehicles. Kadaj looked back at Sephiroth. "You may want to be careful with your attitude towards Mother. Me, if I play my cards right… Well, seeing how you act towards her, I might be the only survivor when the final battle hits." He shrugged. "I'll see you later; that's for sure…" And with that, he took off.

Sephiroth sighed unhappily. Great… this was just great… He needed to tell Cloud about this, but… Well, Cloud would probably figure out about it by himself, right? Right now, Sephiroth probably needed to find Jenova and figure out what she meant… especially because he needed to figure out why she had seemed so confused when he had talked about Lucrecia. As in, _genuinely _confused, as though she didn't get why he thought she had killed her. But then, also, she had changed her opinion almost instantly and had then said that she _had _killed her…? But yet it had been quite obvious that she had still wanted to deny it… It just didn't make sense. Sephiroth wasn't sure if he could rely on her for answers, but he knew one thing for sure: Jenova was hiding something about Lucrecia. And now, he just needed to find out what it was…


	43. Deeper In

_**-Disclaimer- The magical disclaimer. Bow before it.**_

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'_**ello. First off, I don't get it. Over thirty people read the last chapter as well as the others leading up to it – that may not be much for a lot of fanfictions, but we're fine with that – yet only one person reviewed, as always….. I don't get you humans. But, never mind. Hazza, about Lucrecia: sheesh, you're making me tell you quite a lot. It's never said in your games how Lucrecia was encased in the mako crystal, really; you kind of had to assume. Lucrecia tried to kill herself I believe, but because of me, she couldn't ever really die, and so decided to hide away, and she wasn't seen again until Cloud and party found her. I talk to Lucrecia in the next chapter, though, so you'll find out more then. You're half right, about Minerva. And about the second part of your comment, yes, hehe, you're very right; I don't know why I even bother with those guys. I mean, Kadaj was RIGHT THERE more than once, and he didn't even know. HOW COULD HE HAVE POSSIBLY MISSED ME SO MANY TIMES?! I mean, sure, Rufus only had some of my cells, while I was somewhere else, but that was exactly what Kadajy was looking for….. Seriously; those guys are idiots. Like I said: potatoes. Almost as bad as Cloud.**_

**A/N: Okay, sorry, back. And… it seems you've addressed the readers, so to the story!**

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_**Deeper In**_

Cloud sighed, sitting at a booth in 7th Heaven and talking to Zack about how Aerith had been doing. Apparently, she had been doing quite well, and was normally trying to communicate with Minerva nowadays, although she wasn't having much luck.

Zack, on the other hand, wasn't having any issues. He had gotten the hang of fighting again quite quickly, as it had been all he had done before he had died. Every time he saw Genesis, though, he kept on mentioning Angeal, his old mentor, and wondering aloud about what had happened to him. He didn't seem to think that Angeal could have been one of the ones brought back, though, as Zack said he would have come to them immediately.

Marlene was over to the side, pacing around anxiously for no apparent reason. Probably because of Jenova, who had been oddly quiet these last few days.

It had been three days since everything had happened with Hojo, and Jenova was still missing. So was Sephiroth, although Cloud and Genesis had decided that he was most likely just off on his own, trying to make sense of everything. Cloud felt guilty about not telling him the truth about Lucrecia being alive – enough – but it had been necessary. He hated having to use anyone, but the only way to win this would be to turn Sephiroth and Jenova against each other, while Cloud and the others took out Chaos. Sephiroth might have thought that they could turn Jenova, but Cloud doubted it.

Zack sighed. "By the way, when will Sephiroth be back? I don't think it's the best idea to let him stay out of our sights; especially when he's mad…"

Cloud shrugged. "Who knows…? He needs some time to himself. Lucrecia and all…"

"Oh, right… What happened with her, anyways? Did Jenova really kill her?"

What could Cloud say…? 'Oh, no, she's alive; in fact, we had a whole conversation with her, back when Sephiroth tried to summon Meteor. We just told him and you that she was dead so that we could win'? No, that wouldn't work out very well… "Oh, yeah… Yeah, Jenova killed her, for whatever reason. You saw how possessive she was back at Shinra; having another person for Sephiroth to trust probably set her off. We don't really know the specifics, though, since we weren't there…"

"Oh, right, of course…"

Tifa, who was over by the bar, gave Cloud a questioning look, as she had been there when they had spoken to Lucrecia. He shot her an 'I have my reasons' glance, and she just sighed and went back to what she was doing.

Cloud shook his head. "Anyways…"

Then, though, Aerith walked down. She brushed off her white skirt, and then walked over to them, although Cloud noted that Marlene was watching her.

Aerith smiled gently at them. "Hello, Zack. Cloud. What are you talking about?"

Zack put his hands behind his head. "Oh, just… stuff. What have you been up to?"

She shrugged. "Oh, um… Just, you know, trying to contact the Planet…" She glanced over at Marlene, smiling slightly. "And I did pretty well, this time…"

Cloud looked up at her. "You did?! What did the Planet tell you?!"

She sighed, sitting down next to Zack. "Minerva talked to me, which was quite an honor, as I never thought I'd get to talk to the Lifestream itself. Anyways, she told me not to worry about the two most powerful Materias, first off. She also told me to tell Genesis something… 'It's not me.' But she didn't tell me what she meant…"

Zack thought for a moment. "Only Genesis…? Gotta be something having to do with Loveless, then. Right? Because other than that, we know basically everything he knows."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right, huh…? 'It's not me'…? What isn't…?"

Zack shook his head. "Well, if Loveless is real, then I think that the play part has already happened. It's the poem that still needs to reveal itself…"

"Right."

Aerith shrugged. "But then… what is the poem about, again?"

Zack tilted his head. "Hmm… Well, first off, the goddess is pretty prominent in it. The goddess is obviously Minerva… The issue is that the poem starts with Minerva coming in when the world is ending. 'When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end, the goddess descends from the sky'. That doesn't sound good…"

"No, it doesn't," Cloud said. "Then we have the characters basically figuring it out, and it starts to get darker in act four, right?"

"Right." Zack thought for a moment. "And then, nobody knows the ending… But, one thing's for sure: there will be a 'sacrifice at world's end'. Hopefully, whatever happens, the world won't end…"

Aerith nodded. "Right… I just hope that 'sacrifice' doesn't mean 'die'… Maybe they just have to… I don't know, really. Leave, and never come back? That would be a sacrifice…"

Cloud shook his head. "I wish. But no, this is going to be a deadly battle, whether we want it to be or not…"

She sighed unhappily. "Oh… Then, which one of us do you think it will be, that…?"

Cloud didn't want to think about it, but he didn't really have a choice. "Well… It's obviously either you, Zack, Genesis, Sephiroth, or me. I mean, it could really be anyone, but we're the ones that it seems the Planet has chosen, right?"

They both nodded solemnly. Zack shook his head. "Do you really think, though, that Sephiroth or Genesis would actually sacrifice themselves to protect us…? They've both tried to kill us and the Planet…"

"Hey, now…" Genesis said, walking up to them. "I never tried to kill the Planet…"

Zack smirked. "Anything to add to that?"

"…Nope. Now, why would you guys talk about Loveless without me…? I know far more about it than any of you do…"

Zack glanced at him. "Yeah, when did you even get here…? Is that poem some kind of homing beacon for you, or something…?"

Genesis rolled his eyes, sitting down next to Cloud as that was the only other space there was. "Not at all. I was just going to come and see if Sephiroth had showed up at all."

They all shook their heads, and he sighed. "Where is he…?! I know he found out that Lucrecia is, er, dead, but still…" He froze, looking at Cloud. "You don't think he…?"

"Went to the cavern? No, I doubt it. He'd have to have Jenova tell him to even find it… And I highly doubt she'd want him anywhere near there."

He sighed with relief. "Good… I mean, he's my friend and everything, but that would just mess this all up… He can find out _after _he kills Jenova."

"Right…"

Aerith and Zack were kind of just watching the conversation, until Zack finally spoke up. "Not to be overly blunt, but… what?"

Genesis shrugged. "Oh, nothing important."

Cloud noticed, though, that Aerith was kind of looking away, now. "Aerith? Are you alright…?"

She sighed. "I just… Do we have to kill Jenova?"

They all just kind of stared at her – even Tifa. They then answered with a unanimous 'Yes'. Cloud was honestly quite surprised that none of the other customers were questioning their morbid conversation…

Aerith shook her head. "But… why? What if she's not the real problem?"

Genesis gave her a dubious look. "Not the real problem?! Look, I know we have Chaos to worry about, but Jenova's been there this whole time; she's the main problem. We get rid of her, we win. Alright?"

"I…" She sighed unhappily, not finishing.

Genesis shrugged. "Sorry, Cetra girl. I know your kind is all peace, love, and flowers, but this is war. There are going to be casualties, and as much as we all hate it, we can't change that fact. So you're just going to have to get used to it, like we all were forced to."

She nodded somberly. "Yes, I… I know."

Zack put his hand on her back. "It'll be alright, okay? We'll get through this."

She smiled gently at him, and then nodded. Then, she turned towards Genesis. "Oh, I forgot to tell you… Minerva spoke to me, and told me to give you a message, as she won't be able to talk to you for a while and she thinks you may need some help. She said 'it's not me'. Does that mean anything to you…?"

Genesis paused. "I… don't know. Probably, yes, but I can't figure out how it would matter… _What's_ not her? She didn't say?"

Aerith shook her head. "She didn't get the chance. Even with the strong connection I formed, she was cut off quite quickly. Whatever Chaos is doing, it's hurting the Planet, and weakening the Lifestream…"

Genesis closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I feared as much… I hope that he's going to be ready for the worst case scenario, as it seems that that's what's happening here…"

Cloud paused. "Who?"

"My 'friend'… I think you should meet him, soon. But we should wait for Jenova; I want to see how she reacts to him…"

"Why…?"

He grinned. "Because he knows exactly who – and what – she is. I know the basics, but he knows everything. I want to see if she tries to deny that fact…"

Zack tilted his head. "Why would she deny it?"

Aerith looked like she wanted to say something, but Genesis only shrugged. "Because she's a coward? But never mind her. My friend can help us with Minerva; I'm certain of it. He may be a last resort, but for now, we can see if he can help the Planet gain at least some of its energy back."

"Do you really think it'll work…?"

Genesis nodded. "Yes. And, if it doesn't, don't worry; I have a plan for that, too. Even if we all die, the Planet won't. And hopefully, someone else will be able to step in and finish what we've started." He sighed. "It just better not get that far…"

Cloud shook his head. "It won't," he assured them. "We'll defeat Chaos and Jenova with no issues, alright? We just need to remember that. After all, even though she's weakened, we have a _goddess _on our side."

Genesis paused. "Goddess…" He shook his head. "Yeah, you're right. She'll only need protecting as a last resort; for now, let's focus on stopping Chaos before he can get to her at all. If we can do that, then we won't even _need _a last resort." He thought for a moment. "We can't just continue waiting, though. This is _our _world that this darkness keeps returning to, yet every one of our plans has an effect only in the long run. We need to act _now _rather than later."

Zack thought for a moment. "Yeah, you're right… What can we do now, though? Sephiroth and Jenova are both missing; for all we know, they could be working together. Did you ever think that that might be why they've both been oddly quiet for three whole days?"

Genesis smirked. "He'd only help her if she forced him to, now that he knows about Lucrecia." He paused. "Wait, Cloud… Sephiroth might not be in the cavern, but do you think…?"

"Already ahead of you," Cloud said, and they both quickly got out of the booth. Aerith and Zack stood up as well.

"What's going on?" Aerith asked, and Cloud shook his head.

"We need to find them. _Now_. Before Jenova kills someone for real…"

"Who?"

"Never mind who," Genesis said, walking out of 7th Heaven and being followed closely by the others. "We need to stop her. Now." Just as he was leaving the building, Cloud noticed Marlene quietly slip upstairs. Where what _she_ going…?

Cloud ignored Marlene and walked over to get his truck. He didn't want Zack and Aerith to know about Lucrecia, but there was really no choice. They needed to get to Lucrecia… before Jenova really _did _kill her.


	44. Where is the Edge

_**-Disclaimer- Disclaimerrrr. Also, title doesn't have too much to do with the chapter, but thanks to Within Temptation anyways. We might change it later.  
**_

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_**THERE IS A NEW REVIEWER! WELCOME TO OUR GROUP OF AWESOMENESS! –Hands everyone cookies, even the lurking Lurkers– Okay, now… Shh, Hazza, they never said that… You may not be wrong, but I'm not saying either way, heh…**_

**A/N: Mm-hmm, but I will say that you're faster than my friends. Also, I never really thought about it, but now that I'm reading about it, I realized that Jenova has the correct symptoms of 6+ legitimate mental 'illnesses' – like ADHD, MDD, PTSD, Bi-polar disorder, et cetera – that your Earth doctors could cure with medication or psychotherapy with ease. That would have made things so, so much easier.**

_**Right?! Now, anyways…**_

**A/N: Oh, yeah! …I'll put it at the end, so that the Lurkers have a better chance of seeing it. Okay, to the story.**

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_**Where is the Edge**_

Lucrecia was deep in her sleep, as always, watching her immediate surroundings thanks to the fact that her crystal prison was made from concentrated Lifestream energy. It was normal out in the world; at least, no different than it had been for the past few weeks, really.

At first, at least.

Suddenly, Lucrecia realized that someone else was in the cavern, though they hadn't walked in. Then, she was aware of the crystal around her shattering for the first time in as long as she could remember, and she fell to the ground, suddenly awake. Her white dress got caught on a shattered piece of crystal and ripped slightly on the bottom, though not much. However, it did scrape her leg a bit. She fell into the small pool of tainted mako around the crystal and immediately jumped back, not certain whether or not it would affect her. Chaos had already awoken here, of course, and had left, but the mako may still have been dangerous.

"Morning," an all-too-familiar voice said, and Lucrecia looked up, startled. Jenova walked casually towards her, tossing the bow she had used to break the crystal to the side and letting it disappear.

"S-stay back," Lucrecia said, pressing herself against the crystal. The last time she had seen Jenova had been when she and Minerva had helped to seal Lucrecia away, but even then, Jenova had hardly been benevolent. She had been more of a neutral party that could have attacked Lucrecia at any given moment, even with Minerva there as well. And now that Minerva _wasn't _there…

Jenova smirked. "What's wrong? I don't bite… much." She paused, though, and Lucrecia was fairly certain that it wasn't because of her. The extraterrestrial being seemed to be uncertain about crossing the tainted mako, which Lucrecia hoped would act as a barrier between the two of them. Even when she had been helping Minerva and Lucrecia, she had seemed just as hesitant around the mako as she did now, and Lucrecia actually recalled Minerva making a threat to her involving it when she had started to become a bit more untrustworthy.

Jenova looked quite annoyed. "This stuff won't hold me back for long; if I need to, I can always fly over it. And I don't have much time, as I was told that Cloud and party are on their way. But, it doesn't matter anyways; for now, I'm only here to talk."

"Talk…?" Lucrecia asked, glancing sideways at the arrow lodged in a shattered crystal next to her. "By the way… Since when have you used bows…?" she asked, trying to just get Jenova to speak about useless things to take up time. If Cloud and his friends were on their way, then she had to try and stall Jenova for as long as possible…

Jenova shrugged, a knowing glint in her eyes. "I used to, and I still do every now and then. But I tend to prefer my blessed weapons, as nobody can turn them against me. Now, though, that's not important." She smirked. "You can stall all you want, but it won't change a thing. Don't look so surprised; you'd do well to remember that I'm telepathic. Now, tell me, Lucrecia… Has anyone else been in here recently?"

"Recently? No… why?" Why would she care…?

"Hmm… You're sure? Yes? Good. I don't want anyone else knowing about you…"

"But… Vincent, and Cloud, and their friends… They know, don't they?"

"Well, yeah, but there's someone else that I don't want finding out about you."

Wait, could she be talking about…? But, no, Vincent had said… "Are you… talking about Sephiroth?"

Jenova froze, and then smirked. "You're obsessed with him, Lucrecia. Minerva, Vincent, and I all told you: he's _dead_. Build a bridge and get over it."

"How can you tell me to do that?! Surely you've felt love for someone before that you had to abandon, back on your own world, right?! You can't possibly tell me to move on!"

Her words seemed to have gotten through, because Jenova paused. But the alien shook her head. "No, I've never loved someone. But you're right; I _did _have to abandon someone. And they died, too. And look at me: I've long since gotten over it." Lucrecia could see only a coldness in Jenova's eyes that made her slightly worried.

"…But, I… No, I can't move on so simply. Ever since I was injected with your cells, I've seen visions… terrible things… But they were all about Sephiroth, and what would happen with him, and… I don't ever remember seeing him die in Nibelheim."

Jenova raised an eyebrow. "In Nibelheim? You saw him die somewhere else?"

"Yes, that… crater. I don't remember, now, but… it had something to do with you… And with Vincent and his friends… I swear that Cloud killed him, but… why?"

Jenova chuckled slightly. "Oh, well, that's a long story…"

Lucrecia looked up at her, wide-eyed. "So that… that _did _happen?!"

"Yes, it did. You're right; he didn't die back in Nibelheim. He _almost _did. But, thanks to me, he didn't. What happened after Nibelheim is a long story that you won't hear; and I'm doing you a favor by not telling you. Those were… dark times. And your son almost had a stronger will than I did in the past. Quite amazing, really." She shook her head. "But, anyways… you're right, yes. Cloud _did _kill him. He would have killed Cloud – he had an opening, and Cloud was slightly slow – but I told him not to… I'm always telling him not to, it seems… If I hadn't been constantly yelling at Sephiroth these last ten years, I have no doubt that Cloud would be dead…"

Lucrecia shook her head, turning away and looking at her reflection in the crystal. "Why… why did Vincent lie to me?"

Jenova shrugged. "Because he didn't want you to know that your son had been turned into a psychotic murderer?" she suggested without the slightest bit of sympathy.

"He… what?!" Lucrecia turned around to stare at her. "So that… that was true, too… But it wasn't his fault, right?! You forced him to help you… right?"

Jenova nodded. "Oh yes, I did. But… I don't think I needed to. Hojo and Shinra constantly had him under so much pressure, and with his only friends betraying him… He was about to crack, with or without my help. When one of his 'friends' told him the truth of his existence, and I stepped in to verify it when we were alone, well… That was his breaking point. I had him hating everyone – even me. But he knew that, in the end, I was the only one he could trust, which was why he was so easy to manipulate."

Lucrecia shook her head, falling to her knees. "I… I should have been there for him… I should have fought Hojo, but… I was too weak…"

"Yeah, you were basically a pushover… You should have realized that you had my aid back then, while I was still comatose. I might have killed you if you had tried to use my abilities without my consent, but you never know. After all, I kept you alive when you tried to kill yourself…"

Lucrecia sighed, dropping her head. Something intrigued her, though… Jenova had admitted to keeping Lucrecia alive. Lucrecia had known that it was her power that had kept her from dying, yes, but she never thought the being would admit to helping her… Why had she done it, anyways? Oh, well, that didn't really matter, now… "Yes, you're right… I should have tried, but… I couldn't find the strength, even with some of your power available to me… I guess that I was just too scared to use it."

"Well, Sephiroth certainly isn't. So maybe you should stop being 'so sorry' – seriously, you say that too much – and actually try to fight, like we all are. You're not useful, staying here in your nice little crystal, you know. To either side. Not to mine, and not to Cloud's. It's time for you to choose your side, Lucrecia. You could stay on the good side, the weak one… or you could join our side, and learn to use my power instead of running from it."

"Is that all your side has, though? Power?"

"Well, some people say we have cookies, but most of us don't eat anyways, so it's basically pointless…"

Lucrecia just kind of looked at her dubiously, and then shook her head. "I'm being serious. All you seem to care about is what you feel like doing at the moment; even if it goes against what you believe in, I don't think you could care less. Have you nothing to fight for? No true goal? Nobody and nothing to protect? No real idea of what you're even doing until something happens? It sounds more like a child's playgroup than a side in a battle."

Jenova narrowed her eyes dangerously, and then laughed. "Oh? Can mere children do this?" she asked, moving her hand swiftly and shattering every bit of the mako crystal – even the pieces that were already broken. Much to Lucrecia's dismay, most of the pieces fell into the mako, creating a bridge for Jenova. She casually walked over it. "Can children destroy lives, buildings, cities… planets?" She bent down in front of her, grabbing her wrist. Lucrecia tried to pull away, but Jenova was inhumanly strong. Also, Lucrecia noticed that Jenova's eyes had changed from magenta to red in these past few moments. She wasn't sure what that meant, but it couldn't be good… "Tell me, Lucrecia Crescent… Can you think of a child that could kill you in an instant without the slightest bit of remorse or mercy? No? Well, let me tell you this: I can do all that and more." The alien being took a black knife out of nowhere, then, looking thoughtful. "And, since you've more than outlived your usefulness, I do believe that I will…"

Lucrecia looked up at her. "You'll stop at nothing, as long as you win. No matter the consequences. Is that it?"

"Indeed. It's the only way I've been able to survive. And you know? I just don't care anymore." Just when Jenova was about to strike Lucrecia, though, the unexpected happened.

"Jenova! Get away from her!" a young man with black hair and a SOLDIER 1st Class uniform said, running into the cave and being quickly followed by four others… and a dog, randomly. Among them, though, was Cloud, luckily. With him was another man that seemed to have been from SOLDIER, except his outfit was covered with a red leather cape-type thing. Then there were two young women that seemed to be in their early twenties, one of them with brown hair and the other with blonde. The blonde seemed to have been wearing a Turk outfit, which was slightly surprising. Why so many ex-Shinra personnel…? Well, probably because they were the only ones who knew about Jenova.

Jenova looked annoyed, and reluctantly let go of Lucrecia, standing up and brushing herself off. "Oh, you were here earlier than I expected…"

Cloud paused. "Than you expected…? How did you know we were coming…?"

"Oh, never mind that! Why are you guys here, anyways?!" Her tone was… odd. Sickly sweet, almost.

The man in red tapped right next to his eyes, and the others glanced at Jenova. Cloud quickly nodded, seeming to understand something that Lucrecia didn't. "Oh! Ahem, well, you see, we didn't know where you were, or where Se-"

"Not here!" Jenova quickly said, taking a step back. "He's not here, okay?! Just… go, okay? Please?"

Cloud made a quick movement at the first one who had come in, as well as the one in the red coat. They both seemed to know that Jenova would be able to hear their thoughts, so they were communicating only though signals. The two that Cloud had motioned at quickly and quietly slipped off to the side, and Cloud quickly continued talking. "May I ask why you were here, though?"

"Ohhhh, that. I was just trying to see if anyone else had been here, but we're safe!"

"Ahem, right… Did you tell her? About Sephiroth?"

"About him dying? Yep!"

"I see…"

Lucrecia saw the two men who had left coming up behind the two of them. The one in the normal SOLDIER outfit bent down next to her and motioned off to the side, and the two of them quickly moved away. Then, the man in the red moved in behind Jenova. Even in her insanity, though, she knew he was there, and quickly flipped around, trying to strike him with the knife she still had. She nearly hit him, but he ducked underneath her strike, and instead of trying to hit her back, he tackled her, dragging the both of them into the mako. She yelped, but was unable to get away.

The man in the red quickly stood up, walking out of the small pool and watching Jenova struggle to get up. But whatever the mako did to her, she was unable to even stand, and fell back to the ground. "H-help?" she asked weakly, and the Turk girl and the dog quickly ran over to her, helping her out of the pool. She shook her head, looking up into the smirking face of the one who had pushed her into the mako. "You… are dead to me."

He rolled his eyes. "I already was." He looked over at Lucrecia. "Are you alright…? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Lucrecia shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm alright… You guys got here just in time. Thank you. Where's Vincent, if I may ask…?"

"He's out helping to repair the world, from Jenova's last assault on it…" Cloud said.

"And… Sephiroth's. Right?"

"Oh, um…"

"Jenova told me that he survived past Nibelheim, and that you killed him when he tried to harm the Planet…"

"Yeah, I'm… sorry."

She sighed, and her heart was full of sadness. "It's… alright," she said, although it was an obvious lie.

Jenova stood up, stumbling slightly. "Gah, I can't take this anymore… Where's you-know-who? I'm sure he's done something I can at least hit him for…"

They all rolled their eyes. But, wait, who was she talking about if Sephiroth was dead…? Of course, Lucrecia didn't know who any of these people were – except Cloud and Jenova – so it wasn't hard to think that there was someone else she didn't know as well.

Then, though, another person walked into the cavern. Wow, this small place was getting awfully crowded… But, anyways, this person was someone that Lucrecia knew, yet didn't know all at the same time. He looked familiar, but Lucrecia was suddenly in such a daze that she didn't know where she had seen him from before. Somehow, though, he looked somewhat like Jenova… how?

Jenova stared at him. "Wow, you're like the Turks! You're missing when we need you, and you show up at the absolute _worst _times!" She glanced at the glaring girl next to her. "Uhhh… _most _of the Turks."

The man glanced at her, and then paused, looking at her eyes. "Oh, not again…"

"Ah, shut up. They already pushed me into the tainted mako; I'm powerless right now…" She sighed. "Anyways, let's go."

He looked over at Lucrecia. "But… who's she?"

Jenova shrugged. "Nobody important. I got ticked off and tried to kill her, but Cloud and gang showed up before I could. So! Let's go."

He sighed unhappily, seeming to be under Jenova's thumb even when she was weak. "Yeah, whatever…" He looked over at Lucrecia. "Do you have somewhere to go?"

What could she say…? 'Oh, well, actually, I've been frozen in a mako crystal for years and very few people know that I'm alive'? No. No, she would have to lie, but… how?

Then, though, the red man stepped in. "No, I don't believe she does." He looked over at Cloud. "Perhaps she should come back with us… Otherwise, things could get… complicated… And maybe it would be best; you never know how he'd react… This might actually turn out be a good thing."

The one woman who hadn't said anything – the brunette one – nodded, and then looked from Jenova to the mako. She cautiously bent down next to the pool and almost touched it, but the man in red immediately grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Whoa there, Cetra girl! Tainted mako will temporarily sever your connection with the Planet. It affected me, too, but not as much as it affected Jenova or would affect you. Don't touch it."

Lucrecia stared at the girl. "A… a Cetra?!"

The girl tilted her head, and Lucrecia saw her vibrant green eyes. Yes, definitely a Cetra, but… how? "Oh! Um, yes, I'm a Cetra… My name is Aerith. And this is Genesis, Zack, and Elena. It's nice to meet you."

Lucrecia nodded. "Oh, yes, nice to meet you as well. I'm L-"

"-eaving now," Jenova said, grabbing the wrist of the man that looked somewhat like her and all but dragging him out of the cave. The dog followed them, and Lucrecia looked after them.

"Um… what? Oh, never mind. I'm Lucrecia."

Everyone except for Cloud and the one Aerith had called Genesis stared at her. Zack shook his head. "Wait wait wait… Sephiroth's mother?! I thought you were dead?!"

Cloud shifted uncomfortably as everyone looked at him and Genesis. "Oh, um… We may have… lied?"

"Why?!" Aerith asked.

Genesis sighed. "To get Sephiroth to kill Jenova. That's really our only chance at winning. He kills her, and we kill Chaos. It's a gamble, but it will hopefully pay off…"

Lucrecia shook her head. "How can Sephiroth do anything? Isn't he already dead…?"

Cloud shook his head. "…No. He died, but Jenova revived him. That's the part she doesn't want you to know. That person that was just in here was Sephiroth. That's why she got him out of here so quickly."

"Yes, I remember now! How did I forgot what he looked like…? Everything was so fuzzy…"

Zack shrugged. "Yeah, Jenova can do that to ya."

Genesis nodded. "Yes. But you can't tell him who you are, even if you come with us. We need to turn him against Jenova, and right now, he thinks that she killed you. I don't know why she hasn't denied it yet, though…"

The Turk, Elena, shook her head. "Yeah, he confronted her about it, and she was obviously confused at first, but quickly covered up her denial and all but told him it was the truth. I don't get why, though…"

Aerith looked thoughtful and like there was something she wanted to say, but she stayed quiet. Instead, Genesis sighed. "Who knows…? Only Jenova understands Jenova. But, never mind her for now…" He shook his head, glancing at Lucrecia. "We should get you back to Cloud's place, until we figure out what to do…"

Lucrecia nodded. "Oh, right… Thank you."

Cloud shrugged. "Alright, then. Let's get going." He looked over at Genesis. "Jenova will be sedated for a while, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Just making sure. We should probably keep an eye on her for a while. But, I don't want Marlene around her. Or Denzel."

"Ah, I don't think that will be a problem."

"Right…" He nodded at the rest of them. "Alright, then. Back to my place it is." And so, they all left the cavern.

It was night by now, so Lucrecia's eyes had no issues adjusting after being in the dark cavern for so long, asleep or not. She looked up at the stars for the first time in so long as the other five walked off, letting her go at her own pace. But, five…? Shouldn't there have been-

"Enjoying the view?" Jenova asked, walking up next to her. Lucrecia took a step back, but Jenova smirked.

"Don't worry; they already took my weapons, and without my magic, I can't harm you. Easily. So I won't try."

"Right…" she said, looking back up at the sky.

"Take it in while you can. The beauty of this world is always ruined, one way or another."

Lucrecia smirked. "Yes, but you're normally the reason why."

"Hm. True."

Lucrecia paused. "Where's Sephiroth…?"

Jenova sighed. "They told you, did they…? Well, I already sent him back to 7th Heaven to tell Tifa what happened, so that she doesn't freak out. See? I can be nice. Sometimes. Anyways! Shall we get going?"

Lucrecia sighed. "I… yes. Of course." And so, with that, they followed after Cloud. Lucrecia still watched the sky, though, just in case Jenova was right. With her life, she never knew; this could very well be the last time she looked up at the stars.

* * *

**A/N: As I said, just a question… Do any of you have stories up on FictionPress? I'm thinking of putting up my own story, but I'd like to get some tips from those of you that already know your way around that site. For instance, no author notes, right? Just stuff like that would be helpful. Alright, thanks. Review!**


	45. Sick of It

**-Disclaimer.-**

* * *

_**Okay, Hazza, I don't remember Vincent ever shooting the crystal, but I could just be drawing a blank. And, anyways, it was a mako crystal, and although I never say it directly, I was using the bow Minerva uses. It's not really a bow, more of a spell, but I picked up the skill by watching her. That's why I could break the mako so easily; because I was using the Lifestream's spell.**_

**A/N: Mm-hmm. And don't worry; Lucrecia being freed doesn't mean it's almost over… If nothing else, the final battle itself + the epilogue is a total of five chapters so far, so there's that right there. Plus, you guys don't know who's working with Chaos yet, do you? So that's another chapter at least. Plus, we still have the Remnants. Oh, and you guys haven't even met Aya yet! Not really, at least. So there's still a while to go. _Also can I say that the CW made a mistake in killing Sean_. Oh, and also, though it's late, I'm sorry to everyone involved in the Boston bombings, as well as all other tragedies around the world. Okay, to the story!**

* * *

_**Sick of It**_

By the time the small party arrived back at 7th Heaven, just about everyone had attempted to kill Jenova. Since she couldn't teleport without her abilities – and, by extent, couldn't teleport Elena or the dog – she had ridden in the back of the truck with most of the others, and had taken up trying to drive them all insane by annoying them in various ways, including randomly singing 'the wheels on the truck go round and round' over and over and continuously asking Cloud if they were there yet. Somehow, though, they all made it back alive and sane – more or less.

Cloud stopped the truck quickly and let everyone off, including himself. Genesis had flown back, so he was nowhere in sight; not like he needed to be, of course. It was dark out by now, unfortunately, which Jenova seemed to like, but she finally kept quiet, looking around. The five of them – six, including the dog – all headed into 7th Heaven. Tifa looked up at them all.

"What the… Where have you guys been?! And… Lucrecia?! What's going on here?!"

Jenova shrugged. "Ah, they can explain that. I should get going…"

"Or not," Cloud said. "You're not going anywhere just yet."

She glared at him and sat down at one of the booths, putting her face on the desk and muttering something in a different language that probably included at least one swear.

Elena sighed, sitting down across from her. "I guess I'm stuck here as well, then…"

Tifa looked over at her. "Why are _you _stuck here…?"

She shrugged. "I've been helping Jenova, and Shinra thinks she's controlling me. If I leave now, he'll think that she let me go, and he'll find it suspicious if I help her again…"

Zack looked confused. "And you're helping an evil alien bent on destroying this world… why, exactly?"

"Hey, hey," Jenova said. "_Extraterrestrial Eastern Continentican._ We've been through this."

Elena ignored her. "I don't really know… I just feel like I'm supposed to."

Zack shook his head. "Maybe she _is _controlling you, then. Ever think of that?"

"I'm not," Jenova growled. "I have no reason to be. Gah, I'm sick of you guys always thinking I immediately do what I can to win. I'm not stupid; I know when and where to take chances, and right now there's no reason to."

Aerith nodded. "And, I think it would be more obvious… wouldn't it?"

"Cetra girl has a point," Jenova said. "And, I'd let you guys know it, too. So…"

Cloud shook his head. "Anyways, that's not important right now. Lucrecia… what are you going to do now…? You've been trapped for so long…"

Lucrecia nodded. "Yes, I… I know. And I'm glad that I'm finally free. I don't know if I'll ever be able to die now, thanks to being in that mako for so long, but… we'll see, I guess. For now, though… I just don't know. I don't really have anywhere to return to…"

Tifa paused. "Wait… Isn't the WRO coming through Edge again soon?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, why…?"

"Well, ever since Shalua's death, they haven't really found a new scientist that could replace her, right…? So what if Lucrecia joins them? She'd fit right in! Plus, Vincent can fill her in on everything that's happened lately."

Cloud nodded. "Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that…" He looked over at Lucrecia. "So? You think that'll work? I mean, you've never met the WRO, but…"

Lucrecia nodded. "Oh, yeah! And… Vincent's there? I… still feel guilty, but… Well, I think I can face him, now. When are they coming through here?"

They all kind of looked over at Jenova for answers, since she was the one who always knew everything. She still had her head down on the table, but after a moment she simply sighed. "You're all looking at me, aren't you…?" She lifted her head, glaring at all of them. "I'm cut off from the Planet! How could I possibly know what's going on?!" When they all just kept staring at her, she sighed, putting her head back down on the table. "Tomorrow, probably around 12 p.m. or so. Happy?"

Cloud shrugged. "Enough, yes. Now, what I just realized… Where are Marlene and Denzel…? Especially Marlene… With Jenova here, I'm surprised that Marlene isn't down here with us…"

Tifa nodded. "Yeah, S-…" She paused, glancing at Lucrecia.

"She knows," Jenova said, and Tifa looked over at her.

"Oh, alright… Well, yeah, Sephiroth came here and told us about what had happened, although he seemed quite annoyed that Jenova hadn't told him who you were, Lucrecia. I put everything together, though. I didn't tell him who you were, just in case there was a reason that nobody told him. He left not long after. Anyways, I told Marlene and Denzel to go to bed about an hour ago."

Zack shook his head. "Isn't Marlene a kid…? Why are you worried about her…?"

Cloud sighed, glancing at Jenova, who he realized was watching him. "Marlene has… friends. We're not sure, but-"

"One of them is this Planet's Guardian… and my enemy," Jenova finished, sitting up for a moment. She pulled out the black knife that she had nearly killed Lucrecia with, apparently having hidden it when they had taken her katanas away. How had Cloud not noticed it, though…? She just held it in her hand, not threatening anyone; she just seemed to want it for emphasis. "I'll get her, eventually… But not yet. I'll wait. I assume she hasn't been hanging around lately, because of what Chaos did to her, but… Well, I assume we'll see her soon."

Cloud paused. "I thought Chaos still had her captive…?"

"Yeah, she got away. Let's just say that, at one point, Chaos was a bit… focused on me, and she got away. We've got a universe to take over, you know? But he didn't care. It's up to me to take care of her, now, which I'll gladly do…"

"Not when you're here you won't…"

She sighed. "I'll get my powers back eventually, Strife, and you don't have any more of that mako stuff. So good luck keeping me down when I can fight back…"

"Jenova, you're not leaving. Just get that through your mind, alright? Now, what are we all going to do…? There isn't room here for all of us…"

Jenova sighed. "Well, Lucrecia can use Marlene's room, seeing as how little missy's not intending on sleeping anyways…"

Tifa sighed. "She's not…"

"She is," she said, motioning at the staircase. "Come, little one. Your timing is actually impeccable."

Marlene, still completely dressed in her casual outfit, cautiously walked down.

Jenova nodded. "Okay, then, that's settled. But now, what about girly and I…? Honestly, it's not like you're going to be able to keep us here; we come and go as we please, anyways. So, seriously…"

Cloud shook his head. "Jenova, you _aren't leaving_. I'm sick of your casual attitude; this is _war_, not a game. Don't you understand that?!"

"I honestly don't care. I'm just waiting, Strife. If you're sick of it, then why don't you just get rid of me now?"

The room became silent for a moment, because Jenova seemed incredibly serious. But Cloud shook his head. "No. We're taking control, now. Not you, Jenova. Getting rid of you would do nothing."

The alien smirked, seeming slightly more comfortable, yet it was obvious that she didn't have her abilities yet. "Keeping me here will do nothing, you know? You always think you have the upper hand; you never will. But, now that you might, just take control. Because if you don't, I will."

Lucrecia finally spoke up again. "But… there's no way you'd just allow yourself to be killed…"

"No, she's got an angle…" Zack said, thinking. "I have absolutely no idea what it is, but she has it."

Jenova shrugged. "Do I look like I have a plan? I can't _do _anything. I could try calling in Cthulhu, but I don't think that'll work here. I'm just waiting until my abilities come back, so I suppose I'm stalling."

"Stalling…?" Aerith asked. "Why? How long is it until you get your abilities back?"

Jenova shrugged. "Not sure. What's _important _is that none of you are _doing _anything. Are you honestly going to sit back until your world gets destroyed?"

Cloud glared at her. "Not at all."

Marlene, though, jumped in. "No, Cloud, she can't stay here. She needs to be gone by tomorrow, because…"

Jenova glanced over at her. "Because…?"

"Well, because… the Guardian's going to be here, and it wouldn't be good if they were in the same place…"

Jenova looked confused. "She… is? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm very sure. She told me, a few minutes ago; that's why I came down. She needs to tell me about what's been going on lately."

"Eh? Oh, alright…" Jenova shrugged. "Maybe I _should _stay here, then…"

Tifa jumped in. "No, now I agree with Marlene. Cloud told me about this person… Cloud, if they're in the same room, things could get bad…"

Cloud sighed. "Great… No, you're right; we need to meet this person, and Jenova can't be here."

"Why?!" Jenova and Marlene said at the same time, although most likely because of different parts of the sentence.

Cloud shrugged. "Anyways, she can't be here. But, before she gets her powers back, we should probably-"

"No, no," Jenova said, stabbing her knife into the table. "You can't control me, Strife, so don't try. I know what you were going to say and do… imprison me back at that lab again, right? Well, nope. Here's what _I'm _sick of: all of you treating me as a _thing_, and not a person. Yes, I've had a horrible past. Yes, I've done things and endured things that would make even the most hardened, vicious beings cringe. But that's just it: everything I've done, I've felt a thousand times over. But nobody _cares_! Nobody ever even _tries _to understand my side of all of this. I've tried, you know, to be nice to all of you. You may not have noticed it, but it's the truth. Over these last few weeks, have I hurt any of you? I could have, and I was undoubtedly supposed to, but I _didn't_, and I'm the one who paid the price for it all. None of you even _know _what I've had to do for you all already! You don't _care_.

"You want to know why I almost killed Lucrecia earlier?! Because I'm sick of all of you thinking of me as you do! You would never help me, so why should I help you? And if you _want _me to be the enemy, then I will be! No matter what I'll ever do, I'll never be the 'good guy' again; you've all made that clear to me! _That's _why I've been holding myself back less and less; I'm sick of all of you blaming me for the universe's mistakes. I'm sick of being the outcast, and of bearing the scars – both literal and not – of my past. I'm sick of all of the experiments I've had to go through, and of _nobody caring_. But most of all, I'm just simply sick of _all of you_!"

She slammed her fist on the table, and everything went flying at everyone. She immediately raised her hand, stopping every object that she had just telepathically thrown before everyone was killed and dropping it all to the ground. She grinned, her entire demeanor changing. "Oh, looks like my abilities are back."

She jumped backwards, but everyone that had a weapon already had it out. Even Elena had her gun by her side, just in case.

Jenova had grabbed her knife when she had jumped up, and was holding it in her hand, looking around at all of them. Cloud noticed for the first time that it wasn't some kitchen knife; it was actually a slightly ornate athame, and Cloud assumed that it had once been more of a ritual knife than a fighting one. And, because of that – and because of the fact that it was only about eight or nine inches total, versus all of the huge weapons in the room – Cloud wasn't quite sure why Jenova thought she had a chance with such a weapon…

Jenova smirked. "Keep in mind that I control half of you… you can't stop me. I'm leaving. See you guys later, maybe…" And with that, she walked off, as everyone knew that she was right. Plus, she was obviously ticked off right then; there was a chance that she actually might control them if they went after her. Her dog slipped out after her, and Elena looked confused.

"Well, what do I do now…?" the Turk asked.

Cloud shrugged. "You'll be fine. I called Tseng; he should be by at any time." At seeing how panicked Elena was, Cloud quickly added, "Don't worry; I assumed you didn't want him to know about Jenova, so I just said that we found you by yourself. You can fill in the rest."

She nodded. "Oh, alright…"

Sure enough, not long later, Tseng showed up. What surprised everyone, though, was that he was by himself.

Tseng sighed with relief, looking around at everyone. "Alright… Where's…?"

Cloud shrugged. "We don't know. She left a few minutes ago."

Now – again, much to everyone's surprise – he grabbed Elena and hugged her tightly. "Thank the goddess…" He quickly let her go, and she looked slightly startled, but still smiled.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright. Where are the others?"

He sighed. "I came alone, just in case something went wrong."

"Oh… Well, thanks for coming… But, Tseng…"

He smiled gently at her. "I know she wasn't controlling you, Elena. You really think I would have just left you alone? But it's fine. I don't know why you helped that… thing, but you obviously had your reasons. And, at any rate, she's gone now. So… will you come back with me?"

Elena, again, looked quite surprised, but nodded. "Yes, of course!"

He smiled at her. Then, they both thanked everyone else in the room, and quickly left. Marlene watched after them. "I wonder if he'll tell the others… I doubt it."

Cloud shrugged. "Yeah, you're probably right. At any rate… Marlene… were you telling the truth? About the Guardian showing up tomorrow? And… you're not denying that one of your friends really _is _the Guardian…?"

Marlene nodded. "Yes, I was telling the truth. And yes, she really_ is_ the Planet's defender… more or less, now. Why?"

Cloud looked around at everyone else in the room, and then looked back at her. "Because I think it's about time we talk to this person… and find out what's _really _going on."

* * *

**_Don't worry; the next chapter is more important. Oh, also, Guen got bored and used this program called IMVU to model some random pictures - mostly me - so if you ever get bored, the link's in her FanFiction profile. Review!  
_**


	46. Start of Something Good

**-Disclaimer.-**

* * *

_**Alrighty, hello people. First off, Hazza, thanks for your faith in me, haha. Unfortunately, that rant was a bit of a catalyst, and I start to get darker again… sort of. It's hard to explain, but you'll see, hehe. Second, don't worry about the story almost being over; we just meant that there's five chapters in the final battle. The story itself probably has 10-20 chapters left. **_

**A/N: Yeah. They may be a bit slow, though, or at least I won't be doing the author's notes, as I've got another 'story' going on Tumblr now, my attempt at a creepypasta. Plus, I'm writing multiple other stories that I'm going to be putting up. And I'm also finishing up Jenova's backstory, which I may or may not publish. **

_**Hahaha, stupid Moon Moon…**_

**A/N: …I need to get you off of the internet. Alright, to the story!**

* * *

_**Start of Something Good**_

Cloud paced around 7th Heaven, looking around at everyone. It was slightly past 12, so the WRO should have been showing up soon. And also, Marlene's friend should have been there soon as well…

Finally, Yuffie rushed in and straight up to Cloud. "Hey! Miss us?!"

Cloud smirked. "Not at all. Er… where's Vincent?"

Yuffie glared at him. "There's no way he's more fun than I am! But… he should be in here in a moment."

Sure enough, after a few more seconds, Vincent and Shelke walked in and up to them. Cloud saw Tifa glance up at him, but she quickly went back to what she was doing.

Cloud nodded at them. "Finally… Um, I think we may have a new recruit for the WRO…"

Shelke tilted her head. "A new recruit…? Someone we know?"

Cloud shrugged, deciding to just cut to the chase. "Actually, someone Vincent knows. Well, most of us _know_ her, but…"

Then, as if on cue, Lucrecia came downstairs with Aerith, dressed in a more casual outfit than the one she'd been wearing in the crystal. She saw Vincent before he saw her, and immediately rushed up and hugged him tightly. He looked quite surprised at first, and then recognized her. "L-Lucrecia?!"

Lucrecia nodded, pulling away. "Yes. Jenova broke me out of the crystal, and Cloud and his friends found me not long after."

He just kind of stared at her. "Seriously?! And you… want to join the WRO, now? He _was _talking about you, right?"

She smiled at him. "Yes, I think that would be a great idea. It would give me a chance to help this world, since I'm part of the reason it was nearly destroyed…"

He paused. "You mean… you know? About Sephiroth?"

"…Yes, I do. And… it's alright that you didn't tell me the truth. I understand why you did what you did." She smiled at him again. "Now, shall we get out of here? I believe these guys are expecting another visitor today…"

Vincent looked over at Cloud. "Another visitor…? Oh, and I see you weren't lying about Zack and Aerith coming back…" He nodded over at Aerith, who smiled. Cloud had told him about the two of them coming back not long after it had happened, to see if he had known anything about it. He hadn't, of course, but at least he knew now. So did Shelke and Yuffie.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, to both. One of Jenova's enemies is probably going to show up today, and we're going to see what she knows…"

Vincent and Yuffie glanced at each other, and then Yuffie quickly spoke. "Yeah, um… About Jenova… We never got to tell you about what happened with her, because she interrupted that one day…"

Cloud was confused, but then remembered that Yuffie and Vincent had called him and had tried to tell him something about Jenova before Jenova had come in and knocked Cloud to the ground.

Cloud paused, looking around at all of the customers in 7th Heaven at that moment. Any one of them could have been Jenova, and he didn't want to take that chance. "Er… I don't think you should tell me, yet. She may be watching us…"

"But-! Ugh, fine… Seriously, though! This may be important!"

Cloud looked around again, making sure that nobody was watching him. There actually _was _someone watching him, though not directly; more out of her peripheral vision. He didn't recognize this person as one of Tifa's regulars… The woman that had caught his attention was, first off, wearing long jeans, grey boots, and a long-sleeved grey shirt. Normally that wouldn't be odd, but it was quite hot out today… Cloud took another moment to take in the woman's appearance, just in case she was important – or, in case she was Jenova. This woman had brown hair and brown eyes. But she wasn't giving him a warning glare, like Jenova would have…

Cloud shook his head, turning back to Yuffie. "No, Yuffie. I don't know what you want to say, but I have no doubt that Jenova's watching us right now. Perhaps later, when we know her attention is on something else. Alright?"

Shelke looked at Yuffie and Vincent. "Wait… there's something you two haven't told me yet…?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Wellllllll… It's a long story. We might tell you later. For now, we should probably get going, right?"

Vincent shook his head. "Yes, that's true. But we need to talk with Cloud for a moment."

"We do?"

"I do, at least. Cloud… Chaos talked to me, for a moment. He gave me a warning: the final battle for this world will be soon. _Very _soon. Most likely within the next few weeks, perhaps months if we're incredibly lucky."

Cloud stared at him. "Seriously?!"

"Yes."

"This… isn't good. We can try, but… we're not even close to ready. We have no chance against Chaos as we are now. We _may _be able to get everything together within a month or two, but that's unlikely. It's been around two months since Sephiroth came back, and we still only know so much. How can we be prepared to fight for the Planet like this?!"

Everyone who knew what they were talking about looked quite concerned. Lucrecia, however, looked thoughtful. "Well, it's not entirely impossible, is it? You didn't have very long to prepare for your last fights, and you still did just fine, didn't you?"

"Perhaps, but this is different. Every time in the past, our enemies have been holding themselves back, giving us time to build up our strength and, more than anything, just simply stalling; I realize that, now. And now, they're all going to be fighting at full strength. Remember that Jenova and Chaos have been destroying planets for millennia at the least. _Planets_. And, based on what Jenova's said, they worked separately to finish up more quickly. I don't even want to _think _about what they'll be like if they're fighting side by side…" He shook his head. "Plus… The last time I fought Chaos… I don't know, really. He did something to me. Affected me somehow, and made me doubt everything I did. I don't even know _how_."

Vincent sighed. "I could be wrong, but… I think that Chaos has the ability to bring out your darkest thoughts, whatever they may be. That's part of the reason he and Jenova were able to turn Sephiroth so easily: Jenova shattered him, and Chaos brought out his desire for revenge as well as his bloodlust. That's why he changed so suddenly. I've been able to figure all of this out from what Chaos has told me, but, as I said, I could be wrong…"

Cloud paused. "I don't think you're wrong; it makes perfect sense. I doubt that Chaos can fully manipulate your mind like Jenova can, but it's obvious that he can have _some _sort of effect on your psyche when he wants. That may even be how he turned Jenova to his side; she _was _talking about how we never tried to understand 'her side' of all of this… Maybe that's what happened."

"Well, I'm not sure, but it would make sense…"

Shelke nodded. "Well, I don't know, as I've never met any of them anyways. Now, are we ready to go?"

Vincent shrugged. "Yes, I suppose I'm ready."

Lucrecia nodded. "As am I. You have to introduce me to your superior, don't you?"

"Yes, exactly." He looked over at Tifa, and then Cloud. "Thank you, both of you. All of you, really. Good luck with your meeting today. I'll tell you if Chaos ever says anything else, alright?"

Cloud nodded. "Thanks, Vincent. Good luck to all of you as well."

With that, Vincent, Shelke, and Yuffie all left. Cloud sighed, walking over to Tifa. "Alright, so now… we just wait?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

Marlene walked downstairs with Denzel, then. Denzel went off to go do whatever it was that he always did during the day, and Marlene walked over to Cloud and Tifa. "Hey guys. Did Lucrecia leave already?"

Aerith quickly walked up to them. "I'm going to go out and find Zack, alright? He should be back by now…"

They all nodded, and she quickly took off. Cloud turned his attention back to Tifa and Marlene. "So, anyways, yes, Lucrecia just left with Vincent. And Shelke. And Yuffie. Now… Where's-"

Then, someone accidentally slammed into Cloud; the woman Cloud had noticed before. She looked startled, quickly pulling away. Cloud noticed something, though, as she pulled away and her sleeve came up a bit: she had a burn on her wrist. And it wasn't just like she had accidentally bumped into something hot; no, this was a second-degree burn, and Cloud assumed that it wasn't self-inflicted…

The woman shook her head. "Ah! Sorry!"

Marlene facepalmed, Tifa looked confused, and Cloud shook his head. "No problem… Is your arm alright?"

The woman noticed that her sleeve had been pulled up, and quickly yanked it back down to cover her skin. "Oh! Yes, sorry, I had a bit of an accident earlier. Ditzy me! I'll just be… going now…" She quickly backed up and headed for the door, but Marlene shook her head.

"Aya! You're fine; they want to talk to you, anyways."

The woman, Aya, looked over at them. "Huh?"

Marlene nodded. "Come back here."

Aya sighed unhappily, walking back over to them. "Sorry about that…"

Cloud looked over at Marlene. "Wait a minute, Marlene… Is this…?"

The woman nodded, looking slightly more formal now as she held her head up. Her eyes held a level of knowledge in them that Cloud knew would never be attainable by humans. "Yes. I apologize for my behavior, Cloud Strife; I was not quite sure if I could trust you. My name is Aya… and I'm this Planet's Guardian."


	47. Lost

**-Disclaimer- Yeah.**

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**A/N: Heyyyy, sorry for the delay, I was making my friend a website and it just wasn't agreeing with me… Anyways, let's see, reviews… Ah, Hazza, you're a nice person, but don't worry about Jenova; she's stronger than she seems to be.**

…_**Thanks? **_

**A/N: Plus, remember that this already happened; we know how it's going to end. Ever heard 'The Devil Within' by Digital Daggers? It was on Nikita tonight, if you watch it. But, that may be a bad thing, because the song is perfect for our friend Jenova, and that can end up good _or_ bad... And, for the last part of your comment… Well, yes, but no at the same time. I don't want to give anything away, though, so let's just say that she starts to help, but gets locked out of the battle. Okay, this is a slightly short chapter, just like the last one, and the next one will be out on the 19****th****, because it's the anniversary of the story! Oh, and Lurkers! Opinion Time! ****I REALLY NEED YOUR OPINION ON THIS SO PLEASE REVIEW THIS ONE TIME I PROMISE WE WON'T KILL YOU IF YOU DO!**** If I post Jenova's backstory, will any of you read it?! It's pretty violent, of course – I may alter scenes to be less violent, though – and gives away a couple of secrets from this, but I'm still thinking about posting it soon… would you guys even read it, though? It has very little to do with FF7 – the only known characters from the games are Jenova, Chaos, and Minerva – but that's because it's millions of years in the past. So, yes or no? PLEASE review either way. Now, to the story!**

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_**Lost**_

I sighed, lying on my back in a cavern up in the Northern Crater. The Black Materia could have been _anywhere_. Did Chaos really expect me to find it so easily?!

**By the way, Ayanumi…**

I jumped, expecting to have been alone for once. I was annoyed that he had called me by my other 'name' – which was really just an alias. I would have been fine with it, had it not been my race name and had it not been so close to Aya's name… Sure, the similar name thing shouldn't have mattered too much, but I hated that woman… "Gah! What?!" I snapped at Chaos, who chuckled slightly.

**Oh, did I scare you? Good. Now, I was watching what was happening yesterday… Was that girl telling the truth? About the Guardian being there around now?**

Around now…? Wow, I had really lost track of time that quickly…? Huh… "Aya? Eh, I don't know. I guess. Probably."

**Yet, you're still up in the Crater…?**

I shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. You told me to find the Black Materia, so I'm gonna find the Black Materia. First. I'll go there in a minute. She can wait; this is more important than her."

**The **_**Materia**_** can wait. You can't lose an opportunity like this. How does that girl even know about the Guardian, anyways…?**

"Uh, because she met her? You didn't see that?"

**Hmm… I suppose I wasn't paying attention…**

"Well, that's just great…" I smirked slightly. "Just give me a minute; I think I'm near the materia, and I don't want to lose it."

**Fine. But be quick about it. Keep it with you, and make certain that they don't know you have it.**

"Yeah, whatever."

**Speaking of that… Where's the white one? You found it, didn't you?**

I froze, and then quickly nodded. "Sephiroth found it, yeah. Don't worry; I have it where they'll never find it. Where they'd never even _think _to look." I chuckled slightly. Oh, the brilliance of me! It was right in front of Cloud, Sephiroth, and Genesis, and none of them new it! I was quite surprised that the Cetra girl hadn't found it yet, but oh well.

**Good. Now, be quick in finding the materia. Though it's important, it's not nearly as important as getting down to Edge within the next half hour at most. Understand?**

"Perfectly," I said, sighing.

**Heh, are you alright…?**

"_Satis bene_," I muttered, sighing. "Well enough, yes. Now, let me do this by myself."

**Alright, then… And, by the way, you do realize that Sephiroth wants to murder you now, right…? Or am I the only one that's taken notice of his change in attitude…?**

I rolled my eyes, scoffing. "Are you doubting me…?"

**Don't use that tone with me. You may be in control of him without him knowing it, but **_**I **_**control **_**you**_**. Or must I remind you…**

"No need to be vague," I snapped. "Kill him for all I care anymore. You might as well. But, keep in mind that I've been patient these last ten years for a reason. And I didn't deny what he thought he knew for a _reason_. I have a plan, Chaos. Have you ever known me not to?"

**True. Just remember that there's no longer any room for a single mistake or failure. Do you understand?**

"Oh no, I plan to lose in the battle, actually." I looked around, knowing that I was near the Lifestream. _**More or less. That's why I need them all to hate me, because if I lose on purpose, it would otherwise be obvious. I'm going to have them believe I'm down, but get right back up when they're least expecting it. What happens then… Well, I'm near the Lifestream, and even though I doubt it can hear me, I can't be too careful. But it **_**will **_**work. I've had thirty-five years to plan this… I know what I'm doing.**_

**You'd better… But, you've never let me down before. Although this planet is different from the others, I don't doubt that we'll succeed again. Alright, I'll leave you alone for now… But be quick with what you're doing…**

I could have been quicker if he hadn't spoken for so long, but it didn't matter.

I stood up, looking around. Then, Charnauk ran up to me, his coat black. But that was normal; his coat would change based on his affiliation or will.

I nodded at him. "_Finn noe_? Find something?" Wow, I'd just switched languages three times within the past minute…

Charnauk led me out of the cavern and through the blinding snow. We were actually on the outside of the crater, at the moment; the tunnel I'd been in could lead either way. In fact, it could have led me straight into the heart of the Crater, but I doubted we needed to go in there yet. Even if we did, I wasn't about to get this over with so quickly; I wanted to stay here instead of going to Edge, for obvious reasons…

I trudged through the snow, following Charnauk closely. I looked around at the surrounding landscape, remembering when this place had been a huge grassy field that was home to some mean chickens… Long story. Well, _most _of them had been quite rude, except for Aegis… But she was gone now, so there was no reason to think about that. Wow, I actually hadn't even thought about the fact that she must have died since I'd last seen her, so long ago… Well, honestly, that was probably better. She didn't need to know what I'd become…

Charnauk led me quite a ways around the base, and then finally stopped at something on the ground: another piece of that accursed glass. How had it gotten _here _now?!

I glared at him. "What about it?!" I snapped, and he put his ears back. Then, he pawed at it, and I knelt down to look at it. The fact that my reflection was _still _visible was annoying me. What did I have to do to get the Planet to forget about my connection to it?! Then, though, I noticed that the colors in it were bending in four different directions: one towards me, one towards Charnauk, one off to the side, and one towards the Northern Crater. At first, I thought it must have been going in the cardinal directions, but that didn't make sense. I sighed, picking up the glass and holding it like a map.

It was wet from the snow, and it slipped in my hands, cutting me. I cursed in about ten different languages, dropping it. Charnauk had his ears flat against his head because of my little rant, but then he looked at the glass.

I winced, fusing the atoms in my hand back together to heal the wound. Then, I bent down next to the glass, realizing that my silver and dark maroon – almost silver and black, now – blood had fallen to a specific place on the glass. A few specific places, actually, as though trying to trace something out. I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought about that earlier… This stuff had protected me once; it must have had some sort of connection to me. This glass was _really _determined that I could go back to who I had been when it had first seen my personality…

I quickly summoned a map of the area, and then placed it over the glass. "Hmm… You think this'll work…?"

Charnauk nodded, and I could swear he almost smiled, which wouldn't be too hard to believe. I looked at the glass. "Alright, Smile Dog. Let's try this…"

I pulled out the Shadow Blade – which is what I call the black knife you've seen me with before, for more reason than the fact that it could fade into the shadows – from the nearby air, making sure that it was in just a simple knife form, and looked at the ornate infinity on the top of the blade for a moment, being pulled back to when I'd first received this knife… No, I couldn't think of that. That was the past.

I barely even winced as I cut into my hand, letting my blood drip on the paper. Just like with the glass, it moved to specific parts of the map. Two of the drops were so close that they nearly pooled together; that was obviously the two of us. Another one went off to the side – not far behind us – and I looked back, worried that it was telling me someone else was there. I couldn't see more than maybe ten feet back, though, so I couldn't tell. Then, I looked back at the map, and the last drop of my blood had fallen to a specific part of the map in the Crater. I let the blood sink into the map, and then grabbed only the paper, gladly leaving the glass behind and letting the Shadow Blade fade away after I had healed myself.

Charnauk seemed to think we were being followed, but I ignored him. This was _my _area; whoever was following us had no chance.

"Okay, according to the morbid map, it's somewhere in the Northern Crater, which isn't much of a surprise. Now, come on."

I took both of us through the tunnel I'd been in earlier, walking through the long hallways and rooms. I came to one where there were four pedestals, and realized that the Cetra must have had some sort of temple here. Seeing as how this was right above where I'd been comatose, it made sense. In fact, I'd literally been right under this thing; I'd been chased in here – it had been a rough cave at that point, caused from one of the blasts of when I'd crash-landed here – and Catherine – long story – had blown a hole in the ground, then sealed it on top of me. Gah, I'd wanted to kill her _before _that, but man, I wish I would have gotten out when she was still alive…

I led us through the winding passageways until I finally emerged out in the center of the Northern Crater. I could see the Lifestream far below the pathway I was on, but it wasn't bothering me. What _was _bothering me slightly was that I knew that what was left of the crystal forest was down there still… Who knew what it was like after so long…

I paused as I walked out on the long stone pathway, as the strangest sense of déjà vu had just struck me. Or rather, a mixture between déjà vu and a premonition. But whatever it was, I shook it off, continuing forward.

I kind of drifted off into my own thoughts. Man, so much had happened in this one spot… This was where it all began, and now, I knew that this was where it would all end. This is where I first saw this Planet, this is where I was captured, this is where I came back, this was where I was imprisoned, and then, this was where so many recent battles had happened, and were going to happen…

I was deep in the heart of the Crater right now, but luckily not deep enough to be affected by the Lifestream. The paths went in multiple different ways, but every one except for the one I'd just come from dead-ended. The paths all seemed to be made of natural chunks of the mountain rocks; they were just floating, now. There were gaps every now and then, but the Lifestream held it together for the most part. There were multiple other rocks floating all over the place; they looked somewhat like that one Planet stage in your 'Dissidia' game. In fact, the whole area looked like that, if you ignored the paths and the fact that the rocks weren't carved in any way. In nearly the center of the Crater was a rock far larger than the others, with other smaller boulders scattered about it. And, resting next to one of those rocks was the Black Materia.

I looked over at Charnauk. "That was… too easy… Something's wrong here…" I looked around, knowing that I was being watched. Was this some sort of test…? Eh, it couldn't be helped.

I shrugged, picking up the materia and looking around. "Alright, magical spirit that seems to be following me everywhere… I don't know what you want from me, but… can you just leave me alone for a bit…? Okay, er, bye." I quickly headed back into the passage nearby. Thanks to my sensitive hearing, I knew that someone was saying something from behind me, but I didn't stick around to hear what it was. They obviously weren't talking to me, which meant that I had _two _people following me… Oh, no, was it the Turks again?! They were getting seriously annoying… Even Elena had wanted to know too much. But, no, I couldn't feel either of these people… Normally, I could us my mental abilities in the same way that an empath's abilities worked, and I could sense the 'auras' of those around me, if I wanted to. But yet, there was nobody there… was I going insane again?! Nah, I'd definitely heard someone, but… who?

I sighed, tossing the Black Materia up and down for a bit as I walked. I could tell that this was the real Black Materia, and not just some imitation, so those people had obviously wanted me to find it… but why? And _were _they testing me, like I felt they were?

**No test; just be careful with that thing…**

"Gah!" I said, jumping at the familiar voice that had the same power as Chaos' voice. I knew this guy… This was that one person who had talked to me back at Hojo's lab! What did he want?! "Oh no, not _you _again… If you're not going to be useful in any way, just get out of here…"

**Not useful…? The Black Materia was down in Vitrum Sylva; what's left of it, at least. So you're welcome for that. Plus, I also broke you out of Hojo's lab… With some help from your friend, of course, but still…**

"My 'friend'? You mean Elena?"

**No.**

"But… Everyone else hates me… So, uh, what?"

**Not everyone, Jenova. Not everyone. You know who I'm talking about, but you won't admit it. Your Protector was right about how stubborn you can be…**

"He's not my Protector," I snapped, my temper flaring up.

**He was.**

"Yeah, and now he's Aya's. _Not _mine. No, he's not either of ours, because he's _dead._ I left, then came back, and now he's dead. I wish he hadn't tried to protect both of us, because then, he wouldn't be _dead_. Did I mention that he's freaking _dead_?! Because you don't seem to realize that fact!"

**I didn't say he had told me that recently; I implied it, but I didn't say it. I've been around since before even you, so I could have talked to him at any point in the last few millions of years since you awoke here.**

"Doubtful, but whatever."

**Now, I won't be speaking to you for a while. I must retrieve something of mine that's been lost… So, good luck with your endeavors. Your friend will still be nearby; remember that you're not alone. Nobody is. Just because you're different doesn't mean that you've been forsaken by everyone. And also, remember… it doesn't matter how much you've strayed from good; you can always turn back. **_**Always. Everyone **_**deserves a chance to be saved… especially you.**

And with that, he was _finally _silent. What, was he trying to give me a lesson or something? 'You can always turn back'… Pfft, yeah, no. Nope! There was no _way _I'd turn my back on my plans… I was going to accomplish my goals, and _nobody _would be able to stop me.

I finally came to the end of the tunnel again, looking out at the perpetual blizzard of the area. I knew that this storm was my fault, but hey, I'd always liked snow, so it wasn't a bad thing. Of course, there was the fact that it was only like this because the Lifestream was having to draw as much energy as it could from the surrounding area in order to heal a massive wound that I'd inflicted on it, but meh. It wasn't _my _fault that I had accidentally-on-purpose smashed a giant flaming planet/asteroid into it… Oh, wait…

Hah, oh, I wondered what the gods would think, seeing me now… The gods besides that one annoying – and probably quite weak – one, of course. They had tried to ignore me, tried to get rid of me because they feared my power and knew I wouldn't bow… and look what I had done because of that! Well, yeah, sure, that basically meant that they had been somewhat right in trying to get rid of me before any of this happened, but in all fairness, that was really the _reason _this had all happened… Yeah, so I _may_ have been a bit bitter. So what? That was their fault; not mine. Obviously.

I looked up at the sky, letting the chill of the wind wash over me as I had no issue with such temperatures. I found myself wondering about Lucrecia, then… Had the WRO come to pick her up yet? Had Sephiroth somehow figured out who she was by now? The second one was highly unlikely, as I had no doubt whatsoever that I would have heard from him immediately… For now, though, I needed to make certain that he didn't find out the truth. He was so quick to follow me, but I needed him to turn against me at least for a moment if my plans were to work… And even if he _did _turn against me, of course, there wasn't much of a chance that what I was planning would work anyways, but we would see. I already knew what was going to happen in this war, and this was my only chance at winning…

I sighed, sitting down against the wall. Goddess, I was so tired… I hadn't taken any energy from another being, but yet I knew that I couldn't sleep, either, and it was getting quite hard to even stay awake anymore. But it didn't matter what it did to my psychological state; I _couldn't _sleep. Not only was there no time, but I also didn't want to be caught unaware. Plus, I always had nightmares about my past, so that was really the deciding factor…

I closed my eyes for a moment, just resting. I nearly fell asleep, but Charnauk new that I couldn't rest, and so he quickly and gently nuzzled me. I opened my eyes, looking over at him and gently petting him. I sighed tiredly, standing up. I knew that I would have to draw energy from those that I knew, but I was trying _not _to manipulate them in any way… Eh, oh well. Most of them would probably be dead soon, anyways…

I nodded at Charnauk. "Stay here for just about an hour, alright? I promise; I'll be right back. I have something I need to take care of…"

I walked out of the cave and into the storm, which had only gotten worse since I'd come here. I pulled out the Shadow Blade in a form similar to the one from earlier, except for the fact that it now had a large hole in the grip which I slid the Black Materia into. I then let the blade and the materia fade into the Shadow Realm, where I knew the materia would be safe; hopefully, at least…

Then, I teleported away and towards Edge. Yeah… there was definitely something that I needed to take care of…

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**A/N: AGAIN, PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU WOULD READ JENOVA'S BACKSTORY! I REALLY NEED OPINIONS! As I've said before, I made a few pictures of it and put the link to them on our profile page; some of them have quotes from the story, so if you don't know either way, you can check those out and see if they're any good.**


	48. Guardian of Corruption

**-Disclaimer- -Insert witty remark here-**

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**A/N: Ooooh, a new reviewer! I love people who read it all at once; that makes me feel special. Now, as to your comment – I only answer in the author's notes unless you tell me I can PM you, because I'm a pretty shy person .-. – Umm… I don't actually know… -looks at Jenova-**

_**Eh? Oh, hehe, er… Hey look, Hazza reviewed! –nervous laughter-**_

**A/N: Okay, now **_**I'm **_**curious… I'll work on her, Saki. Now, Hazza! First off, thanks for answering about GoC. -glares at other readers, because she has chapter stats and knows that they all read the latest chapter- Second… I can't tell you if you're right or wrong. I will say that she **_**does **_**lose-**

_**Do you really have to tell him that…?**_

**A/N: -but not on purpose when the Time comes, because she's a bit insane… And by a 'bit', I mean that she'd get along with Jeff the Potato.**

_**Go… to… potato!**_

**A/N: But I **_**will **_**say that she doesn't think Cloud is going to win against Chaos; she knows he's going to lose. -hint hint from the last chapter-  
**

_**Man, I want to give the ending away so badly, hehe… But! Not yet. Alsoooo… Happy story anniversary! As a marking of the anniversary, we put the first chapter of GoC up! I already wrote it, so there will be a new chapter every Sunday. This story will still be updated regularly, of course, since I don't need to write GoC. Also, a note: GoC (Guardian of Corruption is the actual name) is rated T, but there is quite a lot of violence in it, so younger readers, nicey-nice readers, and readers that hate seeing characters get hurt may want to be a bit cautious after chapter 7. But hey, I didn't become Heaven's Dark Harbinger and the Calamity from the Skies by playing chess, here. Sort of. Long story.  
**_

_A/N: This is already too long. Oh, hello. Anyways... To the story!_

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_**Guardian of Corruption**_

Sephiroth had already considered going to see what had been happening with Cloud; after all, there seemed to be something going on with that one woman that Jenova had nearly killed. Who had that been, anyways…? Ah, well, it didn't really matter. What _did _matter, though, is that nobody had tried to contact Sephiroth since yesterday. Even Jenova had been silent. Which was weird, because she was almost _never _silent…

Then, though, Cloud had called him, saying that there definitely _was _something going on, although he wouldn't say just what. Apparently, there was some person there that he needed to meet, but Cloud hadn't said anything else. So Sephiroth, naturally curious, had decided to find out who it was. He had taken off immediately, getting to 7th Heaven as quickly as he could.

Sephiroth quickly walked inside the bar. It seemed that Tifa had closed early, probably not long after whoever this was had showed up. Genesis was there, so Cloud must have contacted him as well. Neither Aerith nor Zack were there, though, which was slightly odd. Marlene was in the background as well, kind of half-listening to what was going on, it seemed.

Then, there was someone Sephiroth didn't recognize, but he instinctively recognized it as Jenova, as she was effectively hiding her aura. She wasn't wearing sunglasses, though, and didn't have Jenova's eyes; no, this woman's eyes were a deep brown that matched her long brunette hair. Her skin was pale; only slightly tanner than Jenova's, really. Her form was similar to Jenova's, though: tall and thin, but yet without looking frail. Sephiroth had walked into the room without making a noise, and everyone had had their attention on the woman, so Sephiroth was slightly surprised when she looked up at him without pause. Her eyes held his, and he could tell that she was judging him. But, if this was Jenova, then why…?

The woman nodded, turning her soul-piercing gaze away from him. "Hello, Sephiroth. I was wondering when you were going to show up…"

Everyone kind of acknowledged him, and Sephiroth walked over to the group. Cloud started saying something to the woman about who Sephiroth was, although it was obviously pointless.

_I don't get it… _he said in his mind, making sure to direct the simple sentence as forcefully as he could towards Jenova so that she would at least yell at him for doing so.

_**Well, why don't you just **_**yell **_**at me mentally?! I don't believe I've ever felt you direct a statement so harshly at me before…**_

_Heh, sorry, but you haven't been saying anything lately, so it was really my only choice… Now, anyways… Why are you trying to fool Cloud and his friends…?_

For once, he was surprised at how confused she sounded. _**…Huh?**_

_Wait… Are you saying that this isn't you…? In 7__th__ Heaven…?_

…_**7**__**th**__** Heaven? No… No, I'm up at the Northern Crater, looking for- well, you don't really need to know what I'm looking for yet, since you still seem confused about whose side you're on. Anyways… Wait…. The person you see, does she have brown eyes? Obviously not human?**_

_Yes… Who is this?_

The woman nodded. "Yes, Cloud, I know all about the past. Why don't you tell me about what's going on now, though?" Why did she need to know…? She obviously already knew everything; why was she asking…? Well, whatever the reason, Cloud started giving her the basics.

_**Gah, Little Empath was telling the truth… I can't believe she'd actually show her face, when she knows Chaos is looking for her… Anyways, that would be Aya, the… well, the Planet's Guardian.**_

_The one you're trying to kill?_

_**The one and the same, yeah. Gah, I wish I could be there, but she'd bolt. Plus, I need to finish up here. So you're going to need to tell me what she says, alright?**_

_I… alright… _He still wasn't quite sure whose side he was on, just as she had said. He wanted to be good, but he knew just how hard it would be after everything that had happened… _And, Jenova… What are you doing in the Northern Crater…? Are you… looking for the Black Materia again?_

…_**Why do you care?**_

_You're not going to try and use it, are you?!_

…_**I'll talk to you later, Sephiroth…**_

With that, he could feel her sever their mental link. Her mind was far more powerful than anyone else's, even his, and so it would be impossible to contact her without her lowering her mental walls even slightly.

For the first time, Sephiroth realized that, the whole time he'd been talking to Jenova and Cloud had been describing the situation, the woman, Aya, had been watching Sephiroth discreetly. Finally, Cloud finished his tale, and Aya smirked.

"Yes, I knew all of that. I apologize, but I was merely stalling. What did she say, Sephiroth?"

Everyone looked at Sephiroth, surprised. Even Sephiroth was surprised. She had been asking pointless questions and stalling… for him? How had she even known?! She seemed to realize exactly what he was wondering, though, as she laughed gently. "Ah, I've been around a while, my friend. I can tell when someone's having a telepathic conversation, and there's only one person I know of who isn't here that would be talking to you while we 'aren't' aware…"

Sephiroth sighed. "Oh, she was just telling me that she was in the Northern Crater, and she also told me who you were. That's it, though."

"Let me guess: she asked you to be a spy. Correct?"

He shook his head, not about to face Jenova's wrath. "No… Why would she do that…? She can watch in by herself; she doesn't need me…"

Aya smiled, nodding approvingly. "Well, you're definitely loyal; out of fear or not, it doesn't matter. I know that you're worried, but I can tell that she's not paying attention at the moment. So, she wants you to spy on us, right?"

He sighed. "You're incredibly perceptive…" he muttered. "That, or you know Jenova a bit too well…"

She laughed. "Both. I've been having to deal with her for a while, now, so I've learned quite a few of her tricks. She doesn't tend to fight her more powerful enemies head-on; she learns all about you, uses every one of your weaknesses against you, and then goes in for the kill. That's why she's been impossible for so many people to defeat. It _is _possible, I promise, but we're just going to have to beat her at her own game."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, we've seen that from her quite a lot, so it's good to actually hear that she _does _have a pattern in her attacks…"

Aya nodded. "Yes. Now, Sephiroth, something seems to be the matter… what is it?"

He sighed, deciding to tell her the truth. "Sorry, it's just that… Well, honestly, I can't feel your aura. And Jenova's the only one who ever hides her aura, so it's a bit unnerving…"

Everyone looked over at him, and then back at her. Aya smiled very slightly. Then, Sephiroth was rushed with probably the most powerful aura he'd ever felt before. It was intertwined with the Planet, much like Cantus' had been. But it was much more closely interwoven with the Planet's energy than even his had been. The sheer power of Aya's aura completely shocked him, and he stared at her. She nodded.

"Better? I apologize; I knew of your powers, and didn't want to overwhelm you. It seems I underestimated you, though."

He noticed by the side of his eye that Marlene seemed just as shocked as he did. He had forgotten that she was an empath as well… Eh, oh well.

He shrugged. "Most people do. But yeah, you definitely _are _the Guardian. Your aura is similar to Cantus', just… more powerful."

She paused. "You've met Cantus…? Impossible…"

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we know, he's dead. You… don't have to worry about us knowing that. …I'm sorry about him."

She sighed, nodding. "It's… fine. That's the past."

Cloud nodded. "Jenova killed him, didn't she…? Or, at least, she's-"

"The reason he's dead, yes. It's not her fault directly; Chaos was the one who killed him. But he stepped in to protect Jenova from that demon for no apparent reason, and got killed because of it. I don't even know _why _he protected her; apparently, there's something I'm still missing."

Sephiroth shrugged. "None of us really know, either. She told me about that, but she never said _why_ he was so insistent on protecting her. He's _your _protector, after all, and aren't you guys enemies…?"

She nodded. "Yes, to both. My assumption, though, as that they knew each other from when I was still unconscious – long story. It would make sense. Anyways…"

Genesis shrugged. "Yes, you're right, it would definitely make sense, but nobody will ever know, really. Now… What do you know about what's going on that you can tell us? Unless you're not actually our ally…"

She smirked at him. "You honestly think I'd betray my own planet…?"

"Mmmm… I don't know what you're capable of, honestly. Now, yes or no?"

She laughed slightly. "I'm no enemy. I've had my dark moods, but I'm hardly evil. Now, there's not too much that I know that you don't, but I did manage to pick up a few things while listening to Chaos and Jenova. They thought I was unconscious, heh… First off, whatever they're planning on doing, they're going to do it in the Northern Crater. Chaos is planning on corrupting the Lifestream in the area when the time comes, so Minerva won't be much help during the actual battle. In fact, she'll be quite vulnerable, and you _can't _let Chaos get to her, because the Planet will be lost. She can take care of herself most of the time, but remember that she's only as strong as the Planet is; if Chaos weakens the Planet, Minerva will be weakened as well."

Genesis nodded. "Ah, don't worry about Minerva. If the Lifestream needs protecting, I have a plan for that. I'm actually slightly expecting it."

She nodded. "Good. Only use your plan as a last resort, though; without the Lifestream, the Planet will be overrun by the Lifestream that's been tainted, and…" She froze. "No… I actually think that that's what Chaos _wants_! He's already expecting your move, Genesis! He's been tainting the Lifestream little by little, so that when he confronts Minerva, you'll take her away, and leave only the tainted Lifestream!" She shook her head. "_Only _use your plan if it's _absolutely _necessary, do you understand me?!"

He nodded. "Yes, of course. Don't worry about me endangering the Planet. Alright? I know exactly what I'm doing, unlike some…"

Sephiroth was slightly stunned that Genesis would so obviously vilify the Guardian. But she only smiled. "Hm, I see. And by the way you said that, I assume you'd rather be on Jenova's side? You're either with me or with her, you know…"

He glared at her. "I'm not on either of your sides; I merely want to do what's best for the Planet."

She shrugged. "You can't win a war like that, you know. Not everything is always going to be completely black and white; there are going to be grey parts, parts to all of this that none of us will see coming."

He shrugged. "That _most _of us won't see coming."

"Are you implying that there's something you know that we don't?"

"That _most _of you don't, yes. You, Aya, know quite well what it is that I'm talking about. About everything you've done, and why I hardly trust you more than I would trust Jenova."

Cloud paused. "Yeah, Jenova keeps calling you the 'Guardian of Corruption'… Why?"

She sighed. "Because I helped Chaos at one point; there's no reason to hide it. I didn't want to, but, heh, sometimes, you just find it quite hard to say 'no' to Chaos… Jenova knows this as well, but she'd never say so. Now, as to how well you are all prepared… Do any of you, perchance, know where the White Materia is?"

They all shook their heads, but Marlene finally spoke up. "Unfortunately not… Jenova hid it well, if she even did. That's just the thing, though… We've all been looking for it – even me – yet everything seems…" She shrugged, and Aya looked at her. "I think she's surely a fast enemy… that's for sure. Because honestly, if you ask me, I think that she's just been lying, and that she still has it."

Aya paused. "I'm not sure… It would make sense, though. Sephiroth, do you have any way of finding out?"

Sephiroth shrugged, worried that Jenova was listening. She didn't say anything, though, so he assumed that she had gone back to looking for the Black Materia. "I can try and ask her, but I doubt she'd tell me. Maybe I can trip her up, though…"

"You have to try, at the least. And, what about the Black Materia? Do any of you even know where it is?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "Actually, no. I haven't even thought about it in a while…"

Sephiroth sighed. "And Jenova's up at the Northern Crater right now, looking for it. We have to get to it before she does, since we don't have a way of counteracting Meteor right now…"

Aya looked at him, surprised. "What?! Okay, er… I'll go, and get it before she does. I _should _be able to find it if I'm near it…"

Genesis smirked. "How do we know you won't help her…?"

She glared at him. "I don't know what you have against me, Rhapsodos. I did what I did because I was forced; not because I wanted to, I assure you. If I was still Chaos' ally, then he wouldn't have captured me and _freaking tortured me. _So don't go accusing people until you know all the facts, alright?"

He shrugged. "Whatever… He didn't get any information out of you, did he?"

She smirked. "No. He didn't. And I'm fine, just so you know…"

Sephiroth looked at her. "So that _was _you that saved us from Chaos…?"

She looked over at him. "Back at the reactor? Yeah, that was me. You didn't know that? I assumed Jenova would have gloated by now…"

Cloud smirked. "Oh, she did, but she never confirmed that it had been you."

"Ah, alright…"

Cloud paused, glancing at her cautiously. "Just asking, so that I get my facts straight… Is that why you have the burn on your wrist that I saw?"

Sephiroth paused. Wait… hadn't Jenova had…?

Aya nodded, looking away. "Oh, so you _did _see that… Well, yes. That's also why I'll have to be wearing long sleeves for a while…"

Cloud shook his head. "Can't you heal yourself…?"

"If they were normal wounds, yes. But Chaos has some sort of poison that keeps you from magically healing your wounds; if he hadn't used it on me, I would have gone through that without getting so much as a scratch. It hurts like all hell if you touch any of my wounds, too. I sure hope that I'll find a way to use that stuff on him someday…" She grinned, and then quickly composed herself again.

That last part of the sentence had really gotten Sephiroth's attention. Her wounds hurt even after she had received them…? This was all sounding quite familiar to him, now. But that was impossible… No, he _refused _to believe that Jenova was a victim like Aya…

"Aya…" he said, and she looked over at him. "Do any of Jenova or Chaos' enemies have use of that poison? Or even Jenova herself…?" He doubted Jenova's wounds were self-inflicted, but she _had _tried to kill herself, so it actually would have made a bit of sense.

She shook her head, looking him in the eye. "No. Only Chaos has that poison. Why?" She smirked. "Oh, let me guess… she has wounds like mine? Good; serves her right. I was _wondering _why Chaos had left me alone…"

Sephiroth shook his head. "Everyone keeps on saying that Jenova's a victim, but it's _not _true. There _must _be another explanation…"

She chuckled slightly. "No, I agree with you; she's not a victim at all. Chaos is just a… heh, well, I don't like to swear, but you get the idea. Jenova doesn't need to be kept in line, and nobody should feel bad for her; it's nothing compared to what she's done to others over the years, if she's been telling the truth about what she's done in her past. And I know she's not lying, since I've seen some of it firsthand, especially back two-thousand years ago…"

"Oh, yeah, with the Cetra…"

"Correct. Now… Anything else you would like to know? Any of you?"

Genesis smirked. "Here's something: which side do you think will win?"

She looked away. "You… don't want to know."

"Yeah, I thought not."

"It's not because I'm on their side!" she snapped, and Genesis shrugged.

"Whatever. I just can't tell _whose _side you're on, anymore. It's too confusing."

"Why don't you just ask Minerva, then?! Oh yeah, that's right, she's not talking to _you _either!"

He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "That's not _my _fault, though! You, meanwhile, betrayed your entire Planet!"

"Not willingly!"

"Who cares?!"

"_Calm down!_" Marlene yelled, stepping in-between the two of them before they started physically fighting. Genesis already had his hand on his rapier, and none of them knew yet just what powers Aya possessed, so the brawl could have ended badly…

Aya glared at Marlene. "Stay out of this; this has nothing to do with you."

"No, this has _everything _to do with me now! This has to do with _all _of us! Listen, both of you. Minerva's… talked to me, too. Every now and then. She's… she's the second one I've been talking to. And, Aya, she told me about everything that has happened to you. So Genesis, _back off_. She's fought Chaos harder than you can imagine. But also, Aya, Genesis more than has the right to question your motives, and you have to admit that."

They both crossed their arms across their chests and turned away from each other. Marlene sighed. "I guess it can't be helped…" She paused, looking at Aya for a second before turning to Sephiroth. "By the way… Do you know if Chaos is nearby?"

Sephiroth looked at her, confused. "Chaos? Of course not. And Jenova is being silent."

_**Well if you'd rather I talk, that's fine… I'm just trying to concentrate…**_

"Oh, welcome back…"

Aya glanced over at him. "What did she say…?"

Genesis smirked. "Shouldn't you know?"

"Of course not. She blocked me out."

Sephiroth quickly spoke to keep them from fighting again. "She just said she's fine with talking."

Genesis smiled slightly. "Then, where is she? Nearby, I hope…"

Aya glared at him, and he shrugged.

_**What's up with those two…? Never mind; doesn't matter. I just found a map that I think may lead to the Black Materia, but, uh, we'll see…**_

Sephiroth sighed. "Well, we're too late in getting to the Black Materia…"

Aya looked at him, worried. "Does she have it?!"

"Not yet, but she has a map."

"A… map? Huh?"

"How should I know…?"

_**Hee hee! Tell her I'm using what's left of her precious Vitrum Sylva to destroy her.**_

Sephiroth quickly told Aya what Jenova had said, and the Guardian dropped her head. "That garden _really _likes to see the good in people, even if there is none…"

Genesis glanced at Aya, who smirked. "Yes, Genesis." She paused, and then added, "You don't need to say that mentally."

Genesis shrugged. "Mmmm… I think I do, because Marlene would step in again if I said how much I hated you out loud…"

She nodded in agreement. "Same here… Anyways… If that's true, then she'll have the materia soon. We should get there, _now_."

_**Yeahhhh, you won't get here in time, because I know where I am now… **_There was something odd about the way she was speaking, but Sephiroth couldn't tell why…

Aya paused. "Something's wrong… What did she say?"

Sephiroth sighed. "That we probably won't get there in time. Great… Now she has both materia…"

Marlene sighed. "Er, to be perfectly honest… she may just be bluffing… did you ever think of that…?"

Aya nodded. "She's right. But we can't know for sure… And besides, it may be a trap."

Cloud thought for a moment. "Yeah, that's true… But why would she want us to go up to the Northern Crater…?"

Aya shrugged. "Who knows…? She may want to take us out of this before we even have the chance to fight back."

_**Or I could just be telling the truth… But no, **_**that **_**couldn't be it…**_

Sephiroth rolled his eyes. "I honestly can't tell if she's bluffing or not. I never knew she was good at hiding things…"

_**Oh please, I'm an amazing liar. That's how good I am: you thought I wasn't.**_

_Yeah, yeah…_

Aya sighed. "She's far better than you think; I've found that out firsthand…"

Cloud paused. "Speaking of you and her… Why does she hate you so much, anyways…?"

Aya gave him a look that was just kind of like 'right?!'. "I don't even _know_! We were 'friends' once; i.e., there was a time where we could exist within five feet and there wouldn't be an explosion or eight. But she _hates _me now. I don't even know _why_." She paused. "Or… maybe…"

Jenova was being quiet, but Sephiroth could tell that she was listening. Why wasn't she saying anything, then…?

Aya sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know. But, now that I'm thinking about it… There was one time, back in the past, when she got herself captured… Cantus was supposed to kill her; that was his duty. But, because of me, he didn't… you would think she would have found me as more of an ally after that, but I think it made matters worse, because she'd rather die than appear weak. Yes, that makes sense… Any reaction from her, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "No. But she's listening, so I don't know why she isn't even commenting…"

Aya smirked. "I think it's because I'm right." She sighed, turning away from all of them. "Just ask her. I need to know."

_Well?_

Silence, of course.

_You might as well just tell me, Jenova. There's no-_

_**Shut up. Yes, she's right, but that's not all of it. It was her effect on Cantus that made her my enemy. She's the reason he didn't kill me two-thousand years ago, and she's the reason he didn't kill me millions of years ago. She's the reason he came after me and made me use my abilities, which is the only reason why Chaos captured me instead of killing me. If it hadn't been for her, **_**none **_**of this would have happened… Do you understand now?! Both of you?! I know you're listening…**_

Aya sighed. "You let me; you wanted me to hear that. In fact, I'm pretty sure that we all heard that." She looked at Cloud and Genesis, who both nodded.

_**Well, whatever… It's your fault for letting me go, and I'm going to make sure you regret it… Do you understand me?!**_

Aya just kind of smirked. "I'm immune to your threats, Jenova. The last time you had me at your mercy, you turned your back on me and let Chaos deal with me. I'm not quite sure that you can live up to your threats if you get the chance to again…"

…_**Was that a challenge?!**_

"Yes, it was."

…_**Challenge accepted. Okay, you just set that one up for me…**_

She laughed. "Yeah. Seriously, though. You want to play cat and mouse? I'm fine with that. But, as implied, you'll never really end me, even though you threaten to… I don't think you'd quite know what to do if I was ever really gone."

…_**I'll figure something out…**_

"Uh-huh… Yeah, you won't. You're nothing without me; admit it." Everyone was visibly impressed with how Aya handled Jenova. Jenova, however, didn't seem as amused.

…_**You shouldn't have done that, Aya… You shouldn't have done that… **_

Sephiroth paused. "Er, Aya… I think you _might _want to be a bit worried…"

Aya shook her head. "I'll be perfectly fine; don't you worry about me. She can't be _too _serious with a line like that…"

_**Oh, shut up. It was the first thing that came to mind. Seriously, though. Watch your back… **_

They all just kind of looked at each other, and Aya shrugged. "That's fine. I should get going…"

They all stared at her. Cloud shook his head. "Are you insane?! You've got a murderous Jenova that will probably be coming for you soon; you _do _realize that, right?!"

She chuckled slightly. "I'll be fine. If she captures me, she won't kill me. And if I get in trouble, I'll call one of you."

_**Mm-hmm… **_

Aya started to walk away, and Genesis seemed to say one more mental thing to her. She just kind of smirked. "Thanks. Now, goodbye, all of you. Should you need me, please call upon me…"

With that, she was gone. Sephiroth was the first one to speak, after a moment. "Well… that was fun…"

Then, though, Aerith ran in. "Guys! They blocked me out… I'm sorry, I tried to help, but I'm still drained; he told me to get you guys…"

"Whoa, slow down," Cloud said. "What's wrong?"

"It's Zack… He ran into the Remnants… I think he can handle them, but… he's still weak as well, so you might want to help him fight them…"

Cloud froze. "The Remnants?!"

Sephiroth pretended not to know anything. "What?!"

_**Nice…**_

_Shut up… Don't you have a Guardian to go after or something…?_

…_**Oh, yeah…**_

And so, they all quickly ran out of 7th Heaven and followed Aerith. Still, though, Sephiroth had his mind on other matters. He realized that he felt like he was being watched, and so he looked up at the nearby roof, to where he was surprised to see Jenova leaning against Cloud's chimney. Wait… what?!

She didn't pay him any attention, as she was focused on something in another one of the alleys; probably Aya. But… if she had been there… then _did _she have the Black Materia? Or had she been faking the whole time? One thing was for certain, though: her animosity towards Aya had reached a whole new level. And that could _not _be good…


	49. In the Fire

_-Disclaimer- La la, witty remark, la la_

* * *

_A/N: Sorry, pretty fired up right now. A: GoC chapter two is up (every Sunday, remember). Second: The Black Materia was in the Northern Crater, White one was in the City of the Ancients. _

**Right. In reality, the Black Materia fell down into the remnants of Vitrum Sylva, and I retrieved it, then let Jenova find it, as you saw two chapters ago.**

_**Yeah, basically. And I know where the White Materia is at this point in the story, and I **_**did **_**get it, but I don't have it with me. That's part of the story; I'm constantly dropping hints about where it is, but you have to catch them. Also, yeah, in my backstory, 'DN' refers to this story.**_

_A/N: ALSO OH MY ME PATCH 5.3 IS OUT IN WOW AND I HAVEN'T FINISHED LAST PATCH'S LEGENDARY BUT SERIOUSLY VOL'JIN BETTER KILL GARROSH AND I BETTER GET TO FREAKING HELP! Okay, needed to vent. To the story._

* * *

_**In the Fire**_

I sighed unhappily, sitting down against the chimney on Cloud's roof, bored out of my mind. I was still wearing my cloak – which, I forgot to say, I had been wearing at the Northern Crater – despite the fact that it was hot out. It was starting to get cloudy and windy, though, so it was fine. Plus, I tended to wear this cloak when I was in my darker of my four personalities. Also, I don't think that I've ever said, but my cloak isn't like some sort of medieval cloak; it's like a looser cloth version of Sephiroth's, with a hood. Or, like an Organization XIII cloak, if you know about them. Just, looser, open on the front, and with no decorations; it was just solid black. I had the hood down for now, which was probably pretty stupid, as I didn't really want anyone to see me… But, pfft, I had my hair in front of one of my eyes, so that made up for it, right?

**Heh, and you're sure they didn't know you weren't actually at the Crater…?**

…_**Stop doing that… Yes, I'm certain. They didn't know how close I was, heh…**_

_Jenova…_

I winced, but nothing more. _**Why is everyone doing that…?**_

**Who?**

_**Sephiroth.**_

_What?_

**Ah.**

_**Ahem… Yes, Sephiroth?**_

**You're keeping me in the loop?**

_**Why not?**_

_Why not what…?_

I took a deep breath, taking myself momentarily out of the conversation because of its sudden rapid-fire pace. Normally, I liked when things went that quickly, but obviously, it was hard to have two separate conversations like that, as I may have accidentally said something Sephiroth wasn't supposed to hear…

_**Never mind, never mind. What do you want…?**_

It took Sephiroth a moment to answer, but, finally..._ Where are you, right now?_

_**Er… why?**_

_Because I saw you…_

**Oh, wonderful… **Chaos said, though, despite his annoyed words, he actually seemed quite amused.

I made sure that Sephiroth couldn't hear Chaos before continuing.

_**Hmm, really…? **_I asked._** Right now?**_

_Yes, right now. I didn't say anything, so you're welcome for that. But I can't promise that the others didn't see you… Anyways, apparently, Fair was attacked by the Remnants… Should I keep pretending I don't know anything? I doubt they'll stay silent…_

**Hmm…** Chaos said, drawing my attention.** He still turns to you for advice…? And here I was thinking he was as rebellious as you…**

_**He is, normally, **_I said to just Chaos, being careful. Then, I turned my attention back to Sephiroth. _**It's probably best to wait for Kadaj to explain. And those other two. Yeah. And, when they bring it up – because they will – tell them that I'm not here. I'm… I don't know; you normally come up with those things as you go…**_

_ Right… _Unlike Chaos, it was obvious that Sephiroth really _was _getting annoyed._ By the way… _Did _you find the Black Materia…?_

_**Perhaps…**_

He didn't even waste a second._ In other words, 'yes'._

I sighed unhappily. …_**Basically. I'm not planning on using it just yet, though. If I ever need it at all.**_

…_Alright…_

**Wow, he's gotten good at reading you…**

I sighed, cutting Sephiroth out of the conversation. _**Yeah, I know… Anyways… What were we talking about?**_

**You know, I like you far better when you're like this… Anyways, we'd been talking about them not knowing where you had really been that whole time, heh…**

I smirked, summoning the Black Materia and the Shadow Blade out of sheer boredom, tossing the materia up and down and setting the athame to the side. Huh… If I really _had _tried to kill myself not too far back, then why hadn't I used the Shadow Blade…? Eh, oh well. _**Well, technically, they **_**don't **_**know. Sephiroth knows where I am **_**now, **_**but he'll never know what happened just before he saw me…**_

**And, does he know what happened to Aya after she left…?**

I caught the materia, smiling slightly. _**You heard that whole conversation, didn't you? If he knew, I mean, it's just my guess, but he **_**probably **_**would have mentioned something. So no, he doesn't know, and he won't. I highly doubt that any of us will be seeing **_**her **_**again anytime soon, luckily… I **_**hate **_**her…**_

Then, suddenly, he was right next to me. I sighed, looking away from him. "You're lucky he wasn't still watching…"

Chaos was in his human form, the one you saw him in that one time in 7th Heaven. Normally, I had a specific name for this form of his, but I won't say it since I know that some of you are reading my past at this point, and we'll start saying the names of the important Council members, so you'd figure out which one he's imitating…

Chaos smirked. "Sephiroth? He knows about me by now, so I don't think it would matter anymore. Anyways… Are you going to go down there?"

"Not sure. Probably." I sighed. Even the conversation wasn't helping my boredom any… "I don't know; my normal personality is back, so it may be a bit of fun," I said, putting my hood up so that the shadows covered my face.

"Right… Just, keep your distance from Kadaj."

I paused. "Why…?" He knew I could handle myself… didn't he?

"Oh, er, he's just, obsessed with you…"

I looked up at him. "Chaos… What aren't you telling me…?"

He smirked. "Nothing. You don't need to ask questions. Moving on… You're sure they don't know about what you're really planning?"

I rolled my eyes, but then nodded. "Ah, I'm sure. Nobody knows what's coming. Not Cloud, not Sephiroth, not Genesis, not Marlene…"

I smiled slightly, looking back at the Black Materia._** "**_…_Nobody_…"

**I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I**

Zack ran back and forth, away from the Remnants. He'd seen Cloud fighting them from the Lifestream, so he knew who they were. But, he wasn't completely sure that he wanted to kill them. After all, Kadaj had seemed pretty resigned when he had died…

Zack knew that he still had the light of day to see by, but there were suddenly clouds rolling into the sky, and it was only a matter of time before they darkened the whole area. He didn't want to be facing the Remnants in the dark…

Then, Zack nearly ran into Cloud and company.

"Cloud! Aerith! Sephiroth! Genesis! Er… Thanks for coming… I wasn't running from them, honestly…"

Sephiroth smirked. "Oh? That's what it looked like…"

Cloud shook his head. "Where are they?"

"Right here," Kadaj said, walking up to them. "Long time no see, brother. And hello, Sephiroth." He paused at Genesis. "And I don't know you, but I feel like I should…"

Genesis smirked. "Genesis. You wouldn't know me, but it may be the Jenova connection."

"Ah, yes, of course. Speaking of her…" He looked at Sephiroth. "Is she with you, this time?"

They all kind of looked at him. "'This time'?" Cloud asked, glaring at him. Sephiroth smirked.

"Didn't I mention that? No? Too bad. Anyways, she wasn't with me; she was helping Elena. But, no, I don't know where she is at all this time. Last I heard, she was up at the Northern Crater."

"And how can I be certain that you're not lying…?"

"I probably am, but you don't know either way. Now, why were you trying to kill Zack…?"

Kadaj shrugged. "Nothing better to do? I've got Yazoo and Loz out looking for Mother-"

"You're obsessed with her, you know?" Zack said, shaking his head. "Of _all _the things to become obsessed with, you choose the destructor of the universe?!"

_Eh, don't blame him; that's what I made them for_,Sephiroth said, most likely to just their group and not to Kadaj, as he didn't make a comment about it, but the others seemed to hear Sephiroth.

Kadaj shrugged. "Perhaps, but at least _we're _on the right side!"

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Oh yes, I'm sure. You _do _realize that, once she's done with you, she's just going to kick you aside, right…?"

He shook his head. "Maybe, maybe not. We'll have to see."

Cloud sighed. "Why don't you just help _us_ instead? If you help her, all that will happen is the world will be destroyed, with you on it. She's _not _you're ally; she couldn't care less about you."

Kadaj was visibly getting angered. "And how can _you _know that, puppet?!"

"No, no, no no. He _used _to be a puppet. Now he's a potato," a woman said, forming out of coalesced shadows right next to Kadaj. Zack couldn't see what she looked like, because she was wearing a black cloak/very long jacket, and had the hood up. She sounded young; perhaps in her early twenties at the most. Although, despite her probable age, she was quite tall; 6'6", or taller. And, despite her joke, her voice was incredibly monotonous. Wait… was this…?

Kadaj, acting on impulse, already had his weapon – Souba, if Zack was remembering what he had learned correctly – out and at the woman's throat, even though he had only moved his arm and was still standing next to her. Sephiroth, Cloud, and Genesis all froze. The woman didn't say anything, and then chuckled very slightly. "Be careful where you point that thing; someone may get hurt…"

Kadaj smirked, turning to face her. "Who are you…?"

"Seriously…? You're slower than Cloud…" she said, tilting her head and sighing with apparent boredom.

Kadaj gripped Souba tightly. "Wait… are you…?"

She ducked underneath Souba and walked over to the other side, turning to face him. "Heh, good boy. So, you've found me; now what? Have you ever really thought of that…?"

"I… Er, I…"

"No, I thought not," she said, her tone changing only very slightly to show that she was obviously amused. So this was Jenova, huh? She didn't really seem that threatening… What was all of the fuss about…?

She turned her head slightly to look at Zack, and even though he couldn't see her face, he could feel her eyes on his. He immediately looked away, feeling uncomfortable for no real reason. "What was that, Fair…?" she asked, and he could tell by her voice that she was smiling slightly.

Zack stumbled for the words. "Oh, er, um, nothing…"

"Heh, alright, then… But, just know that appearances can be deceiving…"

Zack was fairly certain that Kadaj was going to overload, since he probably had never really thought beyond simply finding Jenova. Well, apparently, there was that whole Reunion thing that he had found out about while in the Lifestream, but that didn't really seem to be all that important anymore; at least, not to Jenova.

Kadaj just kind of stared at Jenova for a moment.

"So… You really are…?"

Zack could almost _feel _Jenova roll her eyes, and her tone confirmed her annoyance. "Yes, I'm me."

"How long have you been alive…?!"

She tilted her head. "Fourteen billion years? But, I assume you meant since Cloud last 'killed' me, right? And all that stuff that happened a few years ago? Well, you want the truth? I never died. I think I'm probably the only one of you that's never been in the Lifestream… Anyways, when Cloud defeated me for the 'last' time, back in the Northern Crater, that was merely another manifestation of myself; my real body was off to the side, where they wouldn't find me. There's a _lot _of stuff I could clear up, but there's no need to overload you for now. Anyways, yeah, I never really died, but simply kept on copying myself using my blood. Or, using less-important hosts that had the misfortune of having my cells within them. So, I've always been three steps ahead of all of you, heh…"

Cloud glanced over at her when she mentioned mutating living beings, but he sighed bitterly and shook his head "No, no, you don't need to worry about overloading us… There's still a lot we don't understand, so while you're on the subject of the past, would you mind telling us a thing or two…?"

Kadaj was deep in thought, so nobody objected to the idea. Jenova shrugged. "Like…?"

"Well, for starters… I thought you kept on talking about being in the Lifestream?"

"Oh, yeah, I lied…"

"Alright then…"

Aerith spoke up. "And, I may not have been with the group for very long, but I still checked in on things afterwards, so… I thought that Cloud figured out that you weren't actually in control, and that _you _were the pawn? And Sephiroth was actually the one controlling you, because he was more powerful than you?"

Sephiroth glared at her, and she shrugged. Jenova sighed. "Oh, yeah, that's tricky… Sephiroth's powerful; I'll admit that much. But he's not powerful enough to manipulate me in any way, nor should he _ever _try." The last part of her sentence was obviously directed straight at Sephiroth, who smirked.

"If I get an opportunity, then I make no promises…"

Jenova didn't seem very amused, but still continued. "Anyways… Oh, wow, I never realized just how confusing that all was… Sephiroth and I are able to copy ourselves spiritually, and not just physically. So, some of the times you were all chasing him, it actually _was _him, just… his spirit, really. At other times, it was me, as you figured out. For instance, at the Forgotten Capital, it was both of us; he killed Aerith, and my own spirit copy fought you all. Had it been the real me, I obviously would have used more than just water attacks, even with the setting… If you're wondering, my real self was over in one of the four buildings down in the courtyard of the castle in that city."

Zack noticed for the first time that Kadaj was listening to the whole conversation. He _seemed _to be thinking about something else, but Zack finally noticed that he would watch each of them for a moment. He wasn't planning on fighting them, was he…?

Sephiroth nodded. "Well, if we're telling everyone what really happened, then would you mind telling everyone – including me – what really happened back at Nibelheim…?"

"Mmmm… Perhaps later. Now… Any other questions? You're all boring me…"

Zack looked up at the sky, realizing that it was now completely clouded over. Although the air was still quite dry, it had definitely started cooling down, and the area was getting slightly darker, even though it was probably only around 2 in the afternoon… That probably wasn't very good…

Everyone else seemed to take notice of this as well; including Kadaj. It was quite a tense environment, as basically everyone here had been an enemy of almost everyone else at one point or another…

Kadaj very slightly tightened his hold on Souba, and everyone else had their weapons within range. Zack still had the Buster Sword out, and tightly closed his hands around the grip of the weapon, watching Kadaj. Cloud had a part of the Fusion Swords that he'd been holding the whole time, and Sephiroth and Genesis could each summon their swords at a moment's notice, it seemed, thanks to their constant dips in the Lifestream.

"So, then…" Sephiroth said cautiously, looking over at Jenova, and then Kadaj. "What now…?"

Then, the next thing Zack knew, a full blown battle had broken out. The other Remnants had shown up out of basically nowhere to join the fight and, unfortunately, it seemed that they'd all gotten quite a few powerful upgrades, coupled with their original skills as well. Jenova backed up a bit, seeming to just want to watch. Sephiroth, unexpectedly, stood next to her. Traitor…

Aerith didn't have a weapon, so she had to use what magic she had picked up from the Lifestream. It was quite helpful, but not overly so as the Remnants could dodge most of her attacks. Loz got hit by a Blizzaga, but he managed to shake it off and continue fighting.

Loz had singled out Zack, Yazoo had gone after Genesis, and Kadaj had gone after Cloud, of course. Zack realized for the first time that the Remnants being around at the same time Sephiroth was alive didn't really make sense, as they were embodiments of his will, but hey; nothing really made that much sense in this world, so…

Loz was quite fast; faster than Zack, unfortunately, since he almost seemed to be able to speed himself up. However, while they weren't matched entirely in speed, Zack was definitely just as strong, if not stronger. He was able to dodge each of Loz's attacks, and what he couldn't dodge, he was able to catch on the Buster Sword.

Yazoo had dual gunblades at the moment, so he could focus on more than one person; however, his attention was kept on Genesis, who was easily keeping up with him. Yazoo moved quickly, but not unnaturally, as did Genesis, so they were a good match in the battle.

The battle between Cloud and Kadaj was really the one to watch. Now that Kadaj had seemingly gotten a boost in power, he was probably similar in power to Sephiroth, at least somewhat. Cloud and Kadaj were locked in their battle, ignoring everyone else. They were darting around the alleyway that they were in, not sparing a single square inch of space. Cloud darted around him, continuously blocking Souba and pushing Kadaj back, and then advancing on him, then vice versa. Had it not been day – which meant that there were quite a lot of people nearby – the whole city probably would have been turned into their battlefield.

Kadaj, finally getting visibly annoyed, summoned four Shadow Creepers; one for each of his enemies. Which included Aerith.

Aerith had been watching Kadaj most of the time for some reason, and Zack noticed how sad she looked. Now, though, she sighed unhappily, shook her head, and readied her magic.

Zack noticed that Sephiroth muttered something to Jenova, who he could hear laugh slightly at his statement. She then shook her head, and probably said something else, but of course, Zack couldn't tell, since her entire face was shrouded. Now, though, he could finally see her eyes – at least, one of them. Zack remembered that she'd only had one eye back in Nibelheim, but he wasn't sure if that was the case in this form of hers or not; she may have just been covering her other one.

Zack had taken too long paying attention to Jenova and Sephiroth, and one of the Shadow Creepers had almost gotten to him. He jumped sideways, just barely dodging it. "W-whoa there!"

Loz jumped in, though, nearly striking him. Zack, again, managed to dodge, but the strike came within inches of his face. "Ah!" Zack cleaved the ground underneath him, throwing debris at Loz and the Shadow Creeper.

Jenova and Sephiroth were nearly hit by one of the rocks, but it was cut clean in half before it even reached them, missing both of them. Sephiroth looked at Jenova, surprised. She had obviously cut it in half without magic, but… was she really so fast when she wanted to be that Zack hadn't even seen her make a move…? Well, that wasn't very good…

Zack noticed Jenova clench one of her barely-visible black-gloved-hands tightly in a fist. She shook her head unhappily, starting to walk forward, but Sephiroth grabbed her shoulder, keeping her in place. She inclined her head slightly, obviously trying to calm herself, and then nodded, taking a step back again, although her step was reluctant this time…

Genesis had already destroyed the Shadow Creeper that had been coming after him, as had Cloud. Zack, not wanting to be left behind, quickly did the same, which just left the one that was currently chasing Aerith around.

Aerith was constantly shooting what magic she could use at the beast, but Chaos had obviously weakened her far more than she was letting on. Still, minding that, it was quite incredible how well she was doing…

Just as the beast was about to leap at Aerith, Tifa leapt into the battle, literally. She jumped up to meet the Shadow Creeper mid-air, kicking it to the ground and pummeling it with such force that she actually destroyed it. Zack had thought those things could only be killed with swords – and even then, just barely – but apparently not…

Cloud nodded over at Tifa, who smiled slightly. Kadaj had already summoned more of the shadow beasts, which she and Aerith focused on, while the others focused on the Remnants.

Then, just as suddenly as the battle had begun, it stopped, thanks to Jenova. Zack never would have thought her to be afraid of anything, least of all fire, since Nibelheim and everything, but…

As the last Shadow Creeper attacked Aerith and Tifa, Aerith shot a quick Fira at it. Though it worked, destroying the beast, Jenova backed up sharply, slamming into the building she'd been next to and hitting her left arm quite hard. She gasped slightly, grabbing her arm and falling to one knee. Honestly, it looked pretty epic, as her cloak fluttered around her and made her look like some sort of dark guardian when she went down, but that didn't really matter.

Sephiroth knelt down next to her. Tifa and Aerith seemed to notice what had happened, but seemed too invested in the battle. Nobody else seemed to realize what had occurred until Kadaj took notice of it, stopping the other combatants.

"Mother? What happened?!"

She shook her head. "I'm fine," she growled, pushing Sephiroth away. Kadaj held up his hand to Cloud – who glared at him – and then quickly walked over to her.

"Are you injured…?"

"I _said _I'm _fine_!" she snapped at him, and he hesitated, but Sephiroth smirked.

"I thought you would have healed by now…?"

"Yeah, well, apparently not. Just… let me be…"

Healed…? From what…?

Kadaj shook his head. "You can't heal yourself…?"

Jenova sighed unhappily, standing up. "I'm fine, Kadaj. You're correct; my wounds are poisoned, so they'll have to heal naturally. I should have been fine by now, since it's been a while, but something must have happened in that day I couldn't remember…"

Sephiroth shuffled uncomfortably, but quickly shook his head. "No, not really. I'm the only one who was with you, so…"

"I see…" She sighed. "Never mind. Don't mind me…"

Kadaj, however, looked thoughtful. "Well, I may be able to help you…"

"Heh, oh? And how's that…?"

Then, though, Jenova grabbed her head. "Gah! Alright, alright!" She shook her head, putting her hands by her side. "I… I need to leave, for the moment. I apologize."

Without another word to any of them, she disappeared the same way she had appeared before the fight. Kadaj shook his head unhappily. "How… strange. What was that about, hm?"

Sephiroth glanced at the others for a moment, communicating something silently. Zack was slightly confused, even though Cloud had told him everything. At least, he _hoped _thatCloud had told him everything about what was going on…

Genesis shook his head. "I'm not really sure… But hey, it's Jenova; she's not exactly _normal_…"

Loz kind of nodded in agreement, but quickly caught himself and stopped. Kadaj sighed. "Do any of you know where she would go…?"

Cloud smirked. "Even if we knew, we wouldn't tell you. But, no, nobody except for Jenova knows where she goes when she's not hanging around us… Probably Guardian-hunting."

Tifa shook her head, still breathing slightly heavily. "Yeah, it makes… sense. Why would she leave so quickly, though?"

Aerith looked thoughtful. "Well, she was obviously called away; probably because of Kadaj. Kadaj, whatever you were going to do, you weren't supposed to…"

Yazoo mentioned something about the 'called away' statement that Zack didn't hear too well, and Kadaj shook his head. "But! No, no, that's impossible! Why would she have left, because of me? I was just going to help…"

Zack crossed his arms across his chest. "Oh? What were you going to do, exactly…?"

Kadaj chuckled slightly. "Ah, well, that's not really you're place to know. Now! Well, I suppose, there's not much for us to do here, for now. So, we're off. But, don't expect us to be gone for long…"

Cloud smirked. "Oh, if only…"

Kadaj rolled his eyes, and then took off, followed closely by the other Remnants.

Genesis shrugged. "Well, that certainly went well, didn't it?" He paused, looking at Sephiroth. "By the way… what were you two talking about that whole time…?'

Sephiroth shrugged. "Just the battle. At first, I asked her if she was considering joining the fight, to which she replied that she wouldn't. But then, after a bit, as you may have seen, she almost entered the battle anyways; luckily, I stopped her."

Cloud thought for a moment. "Why did she want to join, though…?"

Sephiroth sighed. "Remember her withdrawal? Well, she's getting worse, I believe. But, for some reason, she's doing her best to hide that fact from us. Remember what Cantus said, though? About her being more prone to attack anyone around her? Which is what nearly just happened. That, obviously, wouldn't have been good… But, I don't really know what to do, because we can't let her snap, but we can't let her hurt anyone, so…"

Zack shook his head. "Well, I only know about half of what there is to know about Jenova, unlike you guys, so…"

Tifa looked over at him. "Well, you know about her addiction, right?"

"Yeah, sort of…"

"Then it should be pretty simple."

"Gee, thanks for the clarification… But, you're right. I don't know what we're going to do about that… But, hey, it probably doesn't matter just yet, right?"

Genesis sighed. "I suppose… But, we need to get her back, because the battle will begin soon, and you guys need to know who we have on our side."

Zack rolled his eyes. "Can't you just, oh, I don't know... _tell _us?"

Everyone else nodded in agreement, but Genesis shook his head. "No. Because my explanation won't be enough. You'll see what I mean, soon."

"O…kay?"

Sephiroth looked up at the clouds. "Well, we'd better get inside; Jenova will probably show up, soon. For whatever reason, Chaos obviously didn't want Kadaj to help her… I just wish I knew what he had been trying to do…"

Aerith was still looking after where the Remnants had gone, but absentmindedly nodded. Cloud nodded as well. "Well, I have a feeling that we'll find out, soon. But, for now, you're right; we should get back. We don't know what's out here when it gets dark, anymore. We still haven't defeated – or even found – all of those that Chaos summoned back…"

Tifa paused. "How many _did _he summon back…?"

Cloud thought for a moment. "Er… Eight? Nine, perhaps?"

Sephiroth thought for a moment. "We know he summoned back the Tsviets, so that's four. Then Hojo, which is five. Plus the Remnants, which makes eight. So, then, we _do _know who he summoned back."

Genesis started to say something, but didn't. Cloud paused. "But… what about that one other person that's helping Chaos?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "He was there before Chaos summoned everyone. So was that other person in the cloak. Cloud, I seriously need you to focus, though. If it was eight people, then we know them all. If it was nine, then there's one missing."

Cloud looked deep in thought, and then nodded. "Actually, it was seven. But, that makes sense, since Vincent told me that Weiss and Nero basically became one person, so…"

"Alright, then. Now, all that's left to do is get the Remnants back, and find Weiss or Nero. Or both, since they may have found a way to become two different people again. Then, all that we have left to deal with before Chaos and Jenova are those two others in the cloaks. Or, since we don't know that one of them is actually an enemy, then we only have one of them to deal with."

Genesis nodded. "Er… right. Yeah. Now… Shall we head back?"

Sephiroth glanced at him, and Zack knew why: Genesis was hiding something. But, this was Genesis, so that wasn't all too surprising. Sephiroth nodded. "Alright…"

And so, they all headed back, although there was an unrest in the group. Zack wasn't sure why, really, but he at least knew why _he _was worried: someone was watching him. All of them, but mainly him; he could tell. Why…?

Zack looked up at the nearby roof, and was caught off-guard. There, not too far away, was a person in a black cloak. It wasn't Jenova; this was obviously a man. And, this was obviously the person that they were all talking about; the one working with Chaos. Zack didn't say anything, but he kept a tight grip on the Buster Sword. As long as this person didn't attack, then Zack wouldn't say anything; a battle between the group and this one person could end badly in different ways. After all, they didn't even know who this was; he could have been as powerful as Chaos. Which would be bad. Was it possibly Weiss, or Nero…? Cloud had explained about what had happened, so he certainly hoped not…

Zack and the person watched each other for a while as the group walked, as the person was following them. Then, Sephiroth looked over at Zack. He didn't say anything, but glanced at where Zack was looking. Immediately, he tightened his grip on Masamune, but probably had the same thoughts as Zack, as he didn't say anything to the group.

_Ignore him, _Sephiroth said to only Zack. _He knows we see him, so I doubt he'll attack, as he doesn't have surprise on his side. _

Zack nodded, and continued walking. Finally, they were back at 7th Heaven before he knew it. But, still, he just didn't get it… Why was that person following them? How had he been able to be so_ silent_ in following them? But, most importantly… who _was _that guy?!

* * *

**((A/N: By the way, Lurkers, you don't mind Jenova being such a big part in this, right? The story has already been in her point of view, what, three, four Times? Out of 49 chapters and constant PoV switches, that's not exactly bad, but still... And she's become a bit of an unintentional central character... If you think I should pull back on her character a bit, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll continue like this; it's up to you guys. Oh, and one last thing... Should I kill of the Remnants or not? Again, up to you; I'm writing this for you, after all. Alright, as you were.))**


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